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Jewish life in Morocco r
by Kevin Freeman
JTA
The nearly 15,000 Jews in
Morocco, scene of the dramatic
talks between King Hassan and
Israeli Prime Minister Shimon
Peres last July, enjoy religious
freedom as well as the right to emi
grate to Israel, a step taken over
the years by some 350,000 Jews
who have left for Israel since 1948.
Beyond these freedoms, unusual
inasmuch as that Morocco is a
M oslem nation and technically in a
state of war with Israel, the Jewish
community also runs a vast sup
port network of Jewish welfare
and educational institutions, oper
ated with government approval and
support and with funds from the
American Jewish Joint Distribu
tion Committee (JDC).
Nevertheless, while relations be
tween the Moroccan Jewish com
munity and the king remain cor
dial, it was reportedly Hassan who
in 1984 prevented entry to an inter
national conference in Marrakesh
of an Israeli writer and philosopher,
Aharon Amir. He was invited to
the World Conference on Poetry
by its chairman, former Senegalese
President Leopold Senghor.
This was ironic since just several
months earlier, a 35-member Israeli
delegation went to Rabat to attend
the First National Conference of
Moroccan Jewish communities. They
were invited with the consent of
King Hassan. The delegation con
sisted of Knesset members, aca
demics, mayors and Israeli jour
nalists. Crown Prince Sidi Moham
med, Hassan’s son, addressed the
conference’s closing session.
Similar expressions of support
between the Jewish community and
Hassan occurred when nearly the
entire Moroccan Jewish commun
ity turned out en masse to celebrate
in March 1984 the 23rd anniver
sary of their king’s ascension to the
throne.
In the major cities, including
Casablanca, Tangiers, Fez, Mar
rakesh and Rabat, the Jewish com
munity renewed its pledge of loy
alty and support for the king at
huge parties and dinners, wrote
Jewish Telegraphic Agency corre
spondent Milton Jacoby from
Casablanca.
Jacoby quoted an unidentified
Moslem leader who was president
of the Municipal Council of Mar
rakesh as saying, “There’s never
been any real differences in Moroc
co between the Mussulman and
Jew. Let us inspire in our children
and grandchildren the same spirit
of amity that brings us here to
night.”
David Amar, head of the Mor
occan Jewry since 1956, said in an
interview with the JTA that the
Jews of Morocco consider them
selves “Moroccans first and fore
most.” He said the “response of
Jewry on March 3 was to confirm
our allegiance to our King.”
Many of the Jews in Morocco
live in Casablanca. Five communi
ties—Marrakesh, Rabat, Meknes,
Fez and Tangiers—range in size
from about 800 to about 1,000;
three range from about 100 to
about 5,000 and the rest have 100
or less members, according to the
World Jewish Congress.
Each remaining Jewish commu
nity has a community organiza
tion, the Committee, and all these
are united in a coordinating body,
The Council of the Jewish Com
munities of Morocco, a member
organization of the World Jewish
Congress. The Council is the repre
sentative organ of the Jewish com
munity in matters relating to the
institutions of government, accord
ing to the WJC.
The schools were established by
the Alliance Israelite Universelle in
1862. Curriculum and staff have
changed, however, to accommo
date the increasing number of Arab
students in the schools. The Mor
occan government contributes finan
cial assistance. ORT, Ozar Hatorah
and the Lubavitch movement also
operate schools that have govern
ment support, according to the
WJC.
An example of JDC activities in
Morocco was the shipment to the
Jewish community there from New
York in 1984 of more than 10,000
Hebrew books, including 8,000
prayer texts for Sephardi rites and
2,000 school texts. The shipment
was described as the largest at the
time of religious texts in the history
of the JDC relationship with Mo
rocco, which dates from 1946.
The JDC budget for aid to Mor
occan Jewry was more than $2.2
million in 1985, according to a
JDC spokesperson. The JDC main
tains an office in Casablanca where
the bulk of the Jewish community
resides. About half of Morocco’s
Jewish community received some
sort of assistance from JDC opera
tions. About 1,200 aged or handi
capped Moroccan Jews receive cash
grants while 1,500 to 1,800 receive
monthly food packages. The JDC
provides other programs and forms
of assistance as well.
In October 1985 some 150 dele
gates representing 750,000 Moroc
can-born Jews around the world
gathered in Montreal for the first
World Assembly of Moroccan Jewry
and pledged to help promote a just
and lasting peace in the Middle
East.
Ian on na!6 njCf
L’shana tova tikatevu
y/am/o#6 &u#rulu*e' %/ru>.
“a good store since 1924”
Morris Freedman Erwin Jacobson
B.J. Jacobson
150 Peachree St., S.W. 522-7789
The Hebrew Academy of Atlanta, Inc.
1892 North Druid Hills Road Atlanta, Georgia 30319 (404) 634-7388
L'SHANA TOVA
from
The Officers and Board of Directors
of
The Hebrew Academy of Atlanta
Recipient, 1985/86 Exemplary School Award
Shana Tova
Happy Holiday*
from
Kehillat Chaim
Congregation
fr^AReform Congregation Serving The North Atlanta Suburbs'jj
VE/HIVA
SHIGHSCHOOLiii
OF ATLANTA
Extends to the Atlanta Community
a New Year filled with Torah Blessings
Dr. Robert Rush Rabbi Herbert J. Cohen, Ph.D.
President Dean
L'Shanah Tova
from the
B'nai Torah Family
tSncd ^lor&h
luda H. Mintz J ohn Reicher
Rabbi 700 Mt. Vernon Highway President
Jerome Blumenthal, President
Dr. Ephraim Frankel, Headmaster
FROM ALL THE CHAPTERS OF
AMERICAN
Rehabilitation Ttiroufpi TYaining
THE ATLANTA REGION
L’SHANA TOVA TIKATEVU
Briarcliff
Chattahoochee
' Crosstown
> DeKalb
i Dunwoody Springs
• East Cobb Evening
» Gwinnett Corners
• Lenox
• Northside
• North Atlanta
• North Suburban
• Peachtree
S AMERICAN
• Perimeter
• Regency
• Sandwoody
• Stone Mountain
• Terminus
• Tri-County
• Willeo
VJ^INC
° r Rehabilitation Through TYamin*
THE ATLANTA REGION
1532 Dunwoody Village Parkway
Suite 209
Atlanta, Georgia 30338
393-8555
1986. The year in which the Atlanta Region hosts the Womens
American ORT Biennial National Board Conference.
PAGE 17RH THE SOUTHERN ISRAELITE October 3, 1986