Ancient Roots: Moroccan Jew walks to the door of a synagogue in the northern city of Fez. A museum devoted to the country?s Jewish culture has reopened after renovations. Image by getty images

The Museum of Moroccan Judaism, one of the only institutions of its kind in the Arab world, was reopened in Casablanca after months of renovations.

The re-opening ceremony earlier this month was attended by Moroccan government officials, the museum’s president Jaques Toledano and Samuel Kaplan, the U.S. ambassador to Morocco and a past president of the Minneapolis Jewish Federation, according to the Moroccan news site LNT.ma.

A few dozen people attended the re-opening of the museum, whose halls were filled with the sound of violins and scent of incense and orange blossom. The museum, with a floor space of a few hundred square yards, features photos of synagogues from across the kingdom, Torah scrolls and Chanukah lamps, Moroccan caftans embroidered with gold; jewels ancient rugs and various objects of Jewish-Moroccan cultural heritage.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

“It’s not a fancy museum, but it contains some real treasures of cultures,” said Joel Rubinfeld, co-chair of the European Jewish Parliament, who saw the museum last month during a visit for talks with Moroccan officials.

Founded fifteen years earlier by the Jewish community of Casablanca, the museum was later managed by the Foundation of Moroccan Judaism under its chief administrator, Simon Levy. The building was renovated following his death in 2011.

Morocco has about 3,000 Jews, a tenth of its original Jewish population before the establishment of the state of Israel.

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a gift today!

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

$90 $180

$360

Other amount