Scents of Fes

Before arriving at our final destination, we stopped in Meknes, another imperial city, and another story of departure for the Jews. I believe the number still living there was at 6. We arrived in front of a former Yeshiva, where an old Jewish woman was sitting. We followed her inside and found a Synagogue. It looked like it could have been used yesterday, with tallitot and prayer books everywhere. Unfortunately, it had been about 40 years since services were held on a consistent basis...







PHOTOS OF MEKNES and FES

Then it was onto Fes. We first visited another Jewish cemetery, but this one was more modern, and someone has maintained records of names for visitors.





It reminded me a little of Tzfat because of the bold blues on the walls and whites on the stones. There was also a level of discomfort as we walked from the cemetery to the Synagogue, because there were homes basically built on top of the graves. While it appeared at first to be disrespectful, this was the Mellah, where the Jews lived, so either the cemetery was a later addition, or there was some additional unknown reason.

Walking through extremely narrow streets, I was afraid even I was going to get caught between buildings. Finally we arrived at the Ibn Danan Synagogue. Not only was this place beautiful, but I recognized it upon entering as one of the miniature models in the Diaspora Museum at Tel Aviv University. There was once a pipe that went from roof to floor to carry water underground for a mikvah. The seats faced eachother. The Ark was huge, with no eternal light. The colors on the walls were a little hazy, and the carvings in the chairs were still sharp.





Walking through the Mellah, we ended the day's tour at a Palace, under the sunset and a group of storks passing by.



That night we walked through the streets of the modern city of Fes. At one point I noticed a security guard praying on a panel from a cardboard box. I thought how odd such a sight would be elsewhere, but how comfortable this man clearly was praying on the sidewalk at night. Gathering as a group in a Kosher restaurant for dinner, we could hear a group of Moroccan Jews singing songs outside. They had come to visit a Rebbe's tomb, and had brought back with them the traditions of their home. This was what Jewish life once was like here.

Our final morning was an extremely powerful collection of sensory experiences to conclude the trip. Oddly though, we began outside of Fes, at a unique international university where English is the language spoken. Al-Akhawayn University provided the students with a tour of what appeared to be a typical American college. So why did we go? Because at a school built with funding from Saudi Arabia, there is a student group on campus that plans educational events about Judaism!







Returning to the Medina in Fes, we began a race through the various industrial areas of the city. These included...

1) Ceramics: the smells of burning clay, the cacophony of cracking stone and chipping pieces, the exquisite detail in the final product.








On a short break in the souk, we visited what has somehow been authorized as Maimonides place of residence for 4 years.





2) Copperworks: attention to detail, pride in imperfect but authentic hand-made craft.

Lunch was in an INCREDIBLE restaurant that was once something much greater...



3) Looms: an overwhelming display of color, scarves of all shades and patterns, the cheapest prices (40 dirham, at Raphy's demand)



and finally...
4) Leather Tannery: odors of carcass, stacks of cut layers of skin, a courtyard of puddles filled with dye, mint leaves at the entrance of a store to mask the smell... donkeys loaded with leathers...





The senses having been stretched, we concluded our day of immense shopping, and boarded for a 7 hour bus ride to the airport in Casablanca.

The trip having concluded, I returned to Frankfurt, and then Jerusalem with a few immediate reactions. First, I could never look at a  souk the same way again. The Shuk in the Old City of Jerusalem, once daunting and claustrophobic, was suddenly weak in size, and unimpressive in quality. I have become infatuated with head scarves, and the colors they contain. I could stare for hours at stacks of patterns and fabrics in the shops. I thought about Moroccan Whiskey, the delicious and super sweet tea I was served after most meals, the adhan that I heard all around the country, the Berber cloaks, and the adobe walls. But I also thought about how many of the destinations on the trip, especially toward the end, concentrated on shopping. I discovered that my need to deliberate made a 10 minute stop at a store overwhelming and ultimately futile. There was so much to see and buy and nothing could be enjoyed on its own because I could only see it as next to another object. Furthermore, I didn't go to Morocco to buy things, or take pictures. Rather, I thought of these activities as efforts to preserve the intangible moments I had. I hope this record, the thousands of pictures, and the 14+ Gig of video uploaded to youtube will serve this purpose for you and me.