Wednesday, June 23, 2010

The synagogue in Marrakech



This is the 'mellah' or the Jewish quarter except there aren't any Jews left, only one, the Rabbi. He has the key to the synagogue. There used to be a sizable Jewish community driven out of Spain because of the Spanish Inquisition. The Jews fled to places who initially welcomed them and later drove them out because of increasing Islamic fanaticism. The only foreign visitors they see are probably Chrisians from North America, like us, who are still interested in what happened to the Jewish and Christian people in places that are hostile to their beliefs. So there are smart kids in Morroco and we were approached by one who asked if we were interessted in seeing the synagogue and the cemetery. We were and he got some money from us for showing us these places. Just as in Cairo we went to the Muqqatum hills to see the 'Zabaleen', or garbage city (type in zabaleen in the search bar) and other Coptic sites, here in Morroco we visited the 'mellah' or Jewish quarter. I don't know if they still hold any services here or it's just foreign visitors that come to see what remained.

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