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JEWISH
HERITAGE TOUR
(groups only - if you have a group traveling
together, please send for quote)
The
Moroccan Jewish Community has always been, and still is in Morocco,
one of the largest in the Arab countries. Its heritage and history
are little known abroad although every part of the Kingdom records
an important jewish legend. We are rediscovering this jewish heritage,
thereby learning more about the many sided history of Morocco. Even
the Jews have been here for hundreds over years, they have lost nothing
of their ancient traditions, special customs and culture.
1st. Day: CASABLANCA
- RABAT
Arrival at Casablanca
Mohamed V airport. Welcome and assistance.
Orientation tour of Casablanca with the Habous quarter, the United
Nations square, the Royal Palace (from outside), Hassan XI mosque
from outside (optional internal visit).
Casablanca the hub of Morocco's jewish community, is a must for anyone
interested in observing the life of Moroccan Jewry. Containing the
majority of the country's Jews, it indeed has the largest jewish community
of any city in the entire Arab World. The vigorous community of Casablanca
has numerous congregations, active communal institutions, and several
highly recommended kosher restaurants. Each of the four jewish educational
systems in Morocco has schools here and maintains the academic excellence
characteristic of their sister schools in the country.
Not to be missed the old medina adjacent to Mohamed V place. The <<Rue
Djemda Es Souk >> is one of the main streets of this quarter.
Among the special attractions here are the many shops on <<Rue
de Rabat>> where jewish goldsmiths work and where the windows
display jewerly with Hebrew motifs. A short walk away are the half
dozen Synagogues on the long block of <<Rue Lusitania >>
Rabbinical Courts: Morocco is one of a very few countries where rabbinical
courts function as officially recognized units within the judicial
system.
Lunch in a seafood restaurant. Transfer to the hotel in Rabat. Dinner
and overnight.
2nd. Day: RABAT
- TANGIER
After breakfast,
orientation tour of the cities of Rabat and Sale.
Not to be missed: the turreted red walls of the Chellah mark the site
of the ancient Roman Twin of Sala colonia. Here, as in Volubilis,
there is archeological evidence of a jewish community in the Roman
period, testified by a Greek inscription on a second century C.E.
tombstone. Historical sources attest to the continued presence of
a jewish community in Rabat itself since 1492, located in the buhaira
quarter until the establishment of the Mellah in 1807. Standing next
to the Medina within the ramparts of the old town, this Mellah, with
its narrow lanes and colorful courtyards, is now the home of a few
jewish families. In Sale, the sister city of Rabat, a Mellah was established
the same year as in Rabat. Sale is the birthplace of Rabbi Hayyim
Ben Moses Attar, the famous 18th. century scholar and kabbalist, known
throughout the jewish world for his bible commentary, the <<or
Ha?Hayyim >>.
Lunch in Rabat and departure for Tangier via Larache and Asilah. Arrival
in Tangier. Sightseeing tour of the city. It is worth while seeing
the <<Rue des Synagogues>> which represents a prime example
of a compact unit of immense cultural importance. This world?famous
street has a great number of houses of worship. Some of the Synagogues
along this narrow winding street are now closed to the public. Two
other points of interest in Tangier are: the old jewish cemetery,
with some anthropomorphically shaped tombstones, and the <<Oued
lhoud>>, the bay where jewish exiles from Spain landed. Dinner
and overnight at hotel.
3rd. Day: TANGIER
- TETOUAN - CHAOUEN
After breakfast,
additional sightseeing in the morning.
Departure for Tetouan. Lunch. Afternoon sightseeing tour of the city:
Tetouan's jewish community, originating from the time of the expulsion
of the Jews from Spain in 1492, was for many centuries the intellectual
and religious center of the North of Morocco. Over half of the more
than 500 Jews (7500 in 1950) live in a well kept mellah built in the
traditional Andalusian style in 1808. The Tetouan Mellah enjoys the
distinction of being the only one, apart from the new Mellah of Meknes
built more than a century later, that still houses a majority of the
resident community, who faithfully maintain their Judeo?Spanish language,
traditions and customs. The city's large and excellently preserved
cemetery comprises another historical landmark of great interest,
most particularly the Castilian section, the burial ground for the
earliest settlers from Spain, whose unusual anthopomorphically?shaped
and inscriptionless tombstones have furnished material for a number
of scholarly articles. In the Mellah are three active Synagogues,
all of tourist interest. Among these, the Synagogue Rabbi Isaac Ben
Gualid, on the ground floor of the Rabbi's home, is the most historic,
and its interior the most picturesque, and many legends surround this
building. Then continue to Chaouen.
Dinner and overnight at hotel.
4th. Day: CHAOUEN
- MEKNES
After breakfast,
departure for Meknes. Lunch in Meknes. Afternoon sightseeing tour
of the city. Historically speaking, jewish settlement in the region
of Meknes is truly ancient, as demonstrated by the Hebrew epitaph
believed to date from the third century C.E. and a Greek inscription
relating to the local Synagogue, both discovered at Volubilis (very
well preserved roman city).
Meknes, which had 18.000 Jews in 1950, now has a community of 10.000.
Not to be missed during the visit: the crowded old Mellah is of special
interest because of the idea it gives of the past life there conveyed
through the historic jewish names retained by many of the streets.
The cemetery of the old Mellah, surrounded by the Mellah walls, is
notable for the pilgrimage sites at the tomb of Rabbi' David Benmidan,
<<The Patron of Meknes>>. The new Mellah, notable for
its many streets with jewish names. Eight of its eleven Synagogues
still serve for congregations. Among them, two are very well maintained,
and their interiors are dimly lit by large, intricately designed memorial
oil lamps.
Dinner and overnight at hotel.
5th. Day: MEKNES
- FEZ
After breakfast,
departure for Fez via Volubilis (a very well preserved Roman city)
and Moulay 1st.. Lunch in Fez. Afternoon at leisure. Religious service
at the Synagogue (if coinciding with Fridays). Dinner and overnight
at hotel.
6th. Day: FEZ
After breakfast,
day at leisure. Lunch in Fez. Dinner and overnight at hotel.
7th. Day: FEZ
After breakfast,
all day will be devoted to the sightseeing of the city.
Fez is among the best known cities in medieval jewish history, it
was one of the world's great centers of jewish learning. Fez El Bali
was the home of one of the most influential talmudic scholars of all
times, the eleventh century sage, Rabbi Isaac Alfasi, as well as of
Maimonides in the years 1160 to 1165.
Not to be missed: the Fez Mellah with all its Synagogues clustered
together in a relatively small quarter is a landmark. Their wooden
arks and furnishings are priceless.
East of Fez : worthy of particular attention is Debdou, the home of
the rival jewish clans originating from Murcia and Seville in Spain.
The remnants of one of Morocco's most important jewish communities,
famous throughout North Africa for the last four and half centuries
for its Torah Scribes, still live in Debdou.
Lunch in an old Palace of the medina. Dinner and overnight at hotel.
8th. Day: FEZ
- ERRACHIDJA or ERFOUD
After breakfast,
departure for Erfoud via Debdou and Ifrane city ; antiquity of the
Mellah and especially of the cemetery in this spot is the subject
of many legends. Tradition traces the origin of the Mellah back to
the time of the destruction of the first temple (586 B.D.E.), and
the legend says that Ifrane was the capital of a jewish Kingdom in
the far?off past. A tombstone dating from 4B.C.E. has been discovered
in the cemetery.
Not to be missed : the village's only Synagogue and the cemetery have
been for centuries a center of pilgrimage for Moroccan Jewry.
Lunch in Midelt. Then continue to Errachidia (or Erfoud). Dinner and
overnight at hotel.
9th. Day: ERRACHIDIA
or ERFOUD
After breakfast,
excursion to Rissani. Lunch in Erfoud.
Dinner and overnight in Errachidia (or Erfoud).
10th. Day: ERRACHIDIA
or ERFOUD - TINEGHIR
After breakfast,
departure for Tineghir and lunch .
Orientation tour of Tineghir with its imposing Mellah gateway and
ancient and colorful jewish quarter. Afternoon, excursion to the Gorges
of Todra. Dinner and overnight in Tineghir.
11th. Day :
TINEGHIR - OUARZAZATE
After breakfast,
departure for Ouarzazate via El Kelaa des M'Gouna. Tiliit (5 miles
from El Kelaa Des M'Gouna), <<Ancienne cite Juive du Dades>>.
The high?walled (fortress) of Tiliit had been the center of an autonomous
jewish region ruled by the spanish?jewish family of Perez from the
end of the fifteenth century until the reign of Moulay Ismail in 1672.
The exterior of the attractive Synagogue is decorated with geometrical
reliefs; facades prove the above?average standard of living of the
Mellah inhabitants. These buildings are now inhabited by Muslim villagers.
Arrival in Ouarzazate and lunch. Afternoon free. Dinner and overnight
at hotel.
12th. Day:
OUARZAZATE - MARRAKESH
After breakfast,
departure for Marrakesh. Lunch in Marrakesh.
Afternoon sightseeing tour of the city. A jewish community grew up
in Marrakesh within the first century of its founding in 1603. The
Saadian dynasty, which made Marrakesh their capital, designated a
large area adjoining the EI Badii Palace as a Mellah. It became the
home of a thriving community of native and Spanish Jews, famed for
its rabbinical schools and scholars.
Not to be missed: Adjacent to the Mellah and surrounded by a high
white?washed wall lies the large cemetery. Its vast place is the burial
place of the venerated Rabbi Hanania Hacohen known as the <<Patron
of Marrakesh>>.
Reception and meeting with the jewish community of Marrakesh. Religious
service of the Synagogue (if coinciding with Fridays).
Moroccan dinner with show. Accommodation at hotel.
13th. Day:
MARRAKESH
After breakfast,
day at leisure. Lunch at hotel. Dinner and overnight at hotel.
14th. Day :
MARRAKESH - CASABLANCA
After breakfast,
departure for Casablanca via Essaouira which has held an important
position in Moroccan jewish history since the early nineteenth century,
and for over a hundred years one of the wealthiest and most cultures
jewish communities. The city has two neighboring Mellahs, and two
cemeteries, one of which is extremely old and situated at the edge
of the Atlantic coast.
Lunch in Essaouira.
Then continue to Casablanca via Safi. The origins of Safi's substantial
community go back at least the fourteenth century. Safi was the home
of the influential Benzamero family. The Mellah is located in the
north of the medina and continue via El Jadida. Expelled during the
Portuguese inquisition, the Jews returned to El Jadida at the time
of the Muslim Victory in 1769. The Mellah dating from 1821, is situated
in the old Portuguese city.
Dinner and overnight at hotel.
15th. Day:
CASABLANCA
Transfer to Casablanca
Mohamed V Airport.
Assistance to registration and boarding formalities. Departure.
End
of our services.
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