The Jews in Morocco
Back-dating this to its draft date, Friday, October 18th, 2017, even though it’s June 6th, 2020 by the time I’m posting it
In 1492
Some Jews painted Chefchaoen blue
Spain for a while existed in relative religious harmony between Catholics, Moors, and Sephardic Jews. In 1492, however, the old xenophobic pendulum swung around once more, and Spain kicked out all its Jews.
Many of them settled in Morocco, considering Tangier is just a step away from Europe. There were also communities of non-Spanish-emigrant Jews that had been present in Morocco for centuries before that great influx. We learned more about this Jewish heritage as we questioned Riad owners and friends about certain architectural and geographic details.
The Riad where we stayed in Fez, Riad Seffarine, hosted by the very lovely Alaa and Kate, was once a Jewish house. Alaa is an atheist Iraqi architect who has lived all over and finally settled with his Norwegian wife Kate here in Morocco. They’ve worked to restore the home they purchased with original details until it took the shape of the beautiful Riad we enjoyed.
The room we stayed in had a blue tile shower, copper sink and other hardware, and a curious wooden room divider to separate the bed. (It also had a small sitting room with MY FAVOURITE CHAIRS IN ALL THE WORLD IN IT—anyone who has been to the ISG with me will know of the one dark wooden chair on the third floor with curved details that I covet; our sitting room had TWO OF THEM and I sat in them in each and every way I’ve dreamed of sitting in that chair in the museum.)
Alaa explained that ‘the Jews do not sleep on the floor’ as Muslims do on their rugs, and that this was a Jewish house. He pointed out all of the wooden architectural details. ‘The Jews do not paint like the Arabs do; they carve with wood.’
The old Medina in Fez was for a long time about half Jewish and half Muslim. We haven’t gotten around to reading up on further history to find out why it’s now predominantly Muslim.
We left Fez for a one-night stopover in Chefchaoen before continuing up to Tangier for an evening to catch the night train to Marrakesh. (All praise is due to Ryan for planning our logistics so well.)
You may have noticed not only an abundance of cats for Chatman, but also many blue details in my post from the other day. The entire city of Chefchaoen is painted blue. When we looked up why, we discovered that the banished Jews settled here in 1492, and brought their custom of painting buildings blue with them.
We’re off for a night in the desert tomorrow, and then an evening of much relaxing thereafter.
Finally, for what it’s worth, we’ve loved each of our accommodations if you’re ever interested in a trip to Morocco:
- Fez: Dar Seffarine
- Chefchaoen: Dar Elrio (I couldn’t find a site of their own)
- Marrakesh: Riad & Spa Demeure Bois Précieux