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The Jewish quarters in Morocco were known as mullahs. Jews in Morocco have been viewed ”dhimmis” under Muslim law, which means that they have been considered as an inferior religious group, that had been uncommon from the Muslim majority, and have been prevented from collaborating in positive activities. However, dhimmis such as Jews had been tolerated, following the Pact of Umar in the seventh century, not like the policy of intolerance that the Christians practiced with the Jews at that time in Europe.
Sultans put Jews in the mullahs, as what most see as a strive to ostracize the Jews, and hold them from being uncovered to insurgents The Jewish quarters in Moroccan cities were referred to as Mullahs. The Sultans additionally desired the Jews to be protected for political reasons. An assault on minorities used to be considered an attack on the Sultan’s power.
The Sultan put the Jews in the Mellah for their safety, as well as to protect the Sultan’s rulings from being examined by insurgents. The phrase mullah is comparable to the Hebrew phrase for salt, mulch (מלח).
The term mullah refers to the salty, marshy location the place the Jews of Northern Morocco were originally transferred and gathered The mullah was no longer a ghetto and used to be no longer structured in a way similar to Jewish quarters in Europe By the 1900s, most Moroccan cities had a mullah.
JEWISH HERITAGE TOUR FROM CASABLANCA IN 15 DAYS
Your Accommodation / Airport, Train-Bus Station or wherever you want
30 Minutes Before Departure
Arrive at Med V airport in Casablanca where you will meet your driver. The driver will supply a short review of your tour. You will have an orientation tour of Casablanca the monetary capital. The tour will start with the exterior of the royal palace and the interior visit of Hassan II Mosque. Visit the Jewish quarter (Mellah) with its temples and synagogues such as Bet-El, Em Habanim, and Neve Shalom.
You will have a guided go to through the Jewish heritage Museum for a glimpse into the wealthy and colorful world of Moroccan Jewry. Depart to Rabat to go to the Chellah and Kasbah of Oudayas positioned next to the Medina inside the ramparts of the ancient city. The Mellah, with its slim lanes and colorful courtyards, is now the domestic of few Jewish families.
Continue to Sale as the birthplace of Rabbi Hayyim Ben Moses Attar, the famous 18th Century scholar, and Kabbalist regarded all through the Jewish world for his bible commentary on the “or Hahayyim.” Overnight with dinner in Rabat.
After breakfast at the hotel, you will tour the administrative capital of Morocco “Rabat”. You will begin with a visit to the Chellah ruins and Kasbah of Oudayas placed subsequent to the Medina within the ramparts of the ancient city.
The Mellah, with its slender lanes and colorful courtyards, is now the domestic of few Jewish families. Continue to Sale as the birthplace of Rabbi Hayyim Ben Moses Attar, the famous 18th Century scholar and Kabbalist acknowledged in the course of the Jewish world for his bible commentary the “or Hahayyim.”
After lunch, depart north to the stunning town of Tangier. Upon arrival, you will have an end to see Cape Spartel and the Cave of Heraclius. Overnight with dinner at the hotel
After breakfast at the hotel, you will have half of a day’s tour of Tangier. Indeed, Tangier has constantly been referred to as the crossroads between Europe and Africa. Tangier is a contrast of architecture and used to be a first-rate home for overseas residents such as Paul Bowles, Barbara Hutton, Gavin Maxwell (Ring of Bright Water fame), and Malcolm Forbes.
The most-visited parts of Tangier are, the Kasbah, one of the city’s foremost attractions, The Grand and Petit Socco, the historic American legation, and Mendoubia Gardens.
The tour will encompass as nicely the Jewish quarter “Mellah” – Nahon synagogue – dating from the seventeenth century and the Synagogue Shaar Raphael. After lunch, and just a couple of hours from Tangier, you’ll arrive in the Rif Mountains leading to Chefchaouen. Overnight with dinner at the hotel.
After breakfast, you will explore the blue washed-wall of Chefchaouen, a charming and truly unique town. Its Jewish heritage is seen in one of its most unique characteristics: the picturesque blue-rinsed buildings that line the city’s slim streets. Spend the day wandering the blue-washed slender alleys of the friendly medina.
Visit the walled fortress of the Kasbah contains beautiful gardens, close to which is the small Museum and artwork gallery which homes the prosperous way of life of the Rif Mountains. From the rooftop of the Kasbah view an extraordinary panorama of the blue and whitewashed houses, tiled roofs, and tiny balconies.
After exploring the medina, walk on the close by hillsides with the wonderful and incredible waterfalls. The blue constructions are a remnant of a Jewish nonsecular way of life of weaving prayer shawls with Tekhelel (an ancient natural blue dye). The city affords many native handicrafts that are no longer available in some other places in Morocco, such as wool clothes and woven blankets. The goat cheese native to the location is additionally popular. Overnight with dinner at the hotel.
Departure towards Meknes, a Moroccan imperial metropolis known as “the Moroccan Versailles”.Meknes was once the capital of Morocco by using Moulay Ismail at the give up of the 17th Century. The visit will include Bab El Mansour, the Hedim rectangular, and the Mausoleum of Moulay Ismail. In Meknes, the Jewish heritage is seen via Hebraic epitaphs relationship from the Christian technology in addition to Greek inscriptions nonetheless show up in local Synagogues.
Meknes’ historical Mellah (the Jewish quarter) is acknowledged for its historical Jewish avenue names and the new Mellah is domestic to eleven Synagogues, eight of which are nonetheless in use. Also not to pass over the tomb of Rabbi David Benmidan. You will have the danger to see Talmud Torah Synagogue and the Jewish Quarter & Cemetery. After lunch, you will go to the historic Roman town of Volubilis. Arrival in Fez. Check-in. Overnight with dinner at the hotel.
This day will be a full-day guided tour to Fes. Fez has been viewed as one of the most satisfactory recognized cities in medieval Jewish history, it was once domestic to one of the most influential Talmudic students of all times, Rabbi Isaac Alfasi, as well as Maimonides in the years of 1160 to 1165. Visit the Mellah with its synagogue. Fez is a nonsecular and cultural core with many facets.
The tour will take you to lower back in time whilst traveling to Al Quaraouiyine University, the oldest college in the world (before even Oxford or the Sorbonne). We will also visit the medieval Medina with its Bou Anania Medersa, the Nejjarine fountain, and the Moulay Idriss Mausoleum.
Afterward, continue to explore the slender alleys house lots of merchants and craftsmen promoting a variety of merchandise such as dates, fish, spices, copper urns, and musical instruments. Overnight with breakfast at the hotel.
You will have a day outing not a long way from Fes so the drive won’t be too lengthy and that would supply you more time to revel in our vacation spot which is Sefrou, the capital of cherries. This town used to be regarded as Little Jerusalem due to its high proportion of Jews and its well-developed non-secular life. En route to Sefrou make a brief quit in Bhalil to visit the cemetery where Rabbi Lahou Harroch and Rabbi Raphael Moshe Elbaz are buried.
This village is exclusive for its specific cave homes placed in the old phase of the town, and for its mixture of colored homes, linked together by using a network of bridges. Some of the cave houses in Bhalil are robotically open to travelers to visit, however, are hastily disappearing as the village modernizes.
Arrival to Sefrou which was as soon an essential core for Morocco’s Jews and its walled white pedestrian medina is still characterized via their houses with wooden balconies. Overnight with breakfast at the lodge in Fez.
Departure South East in the direction of Erfoud by using Ifrane metropolis and the cedar Forest. It is said that Ifrane was the capital of a Jewish kingdom in the ways past. Not to be overlooked are the village’s only synagogues and the cemetery, which has been the middle of pilgrimage for Moroccan Jews for centuries. Stop in Midelt and proceed Erfoud.
From there a 4×4 jeep with a driver at the customer’s disposal for the sundown and Bivouac at Merzouga dunes. Optional overnight with dinner at the Berber tent in the Camp or return to Erfoud for lodging at the hotel.
Your day starts off evolved early with a picturesque first light earlier than taking part in a one-of-a-kind breakfast, head lower back to Merzouga to re-join your auto to proceed the tour to Todra Gorges recognized for its stunning bare escarpments. Continue to Tinghir and visit its Mellah gateway and the historical colorful Jewish quarter.
We continue the trip to Ouarzazate by way of Kellat M’gouna and visit Tiliit (5 miles from Kellat M’gouna), known as the historic town of Jews of the Dades. The fortress of Tiliit has been the middle Jewish place ruled by the Spanish – Jewish family of Perez from the give up of the fifteenth century until the reign of Moulay Ismail in 1672. Continue to the Hollywood of Africa Ouarzazate, take a look at the lodge, and overnight for dinner.
After breakfast, departure to Ait Ben Haddou, the most superb Kasbah in the south of Morocco and the iconic panorama immortalized in such films as, Lawrence of Arabia, Jesus of Nazareth, The Jewel of the Nile, The Living Daylights, The Sheltering Sky, Kundun, The Mummy, Gladiator, and Alexander the Great. Drive west through the Souss Valley and Taliouine village to Taroudant town, a sightly village placed in the Sous Valley.
We will pass the city’s characteristic ramparts and tour alongside narrow, winding streets before arriving at the souks, where some of Morocco’s most proficient craftsmen tend their art. Overnight with dinner at the hotel.
After breakfast at the hotel, you take a tour outdoor Taroudant to the close by village of Arazan to go to a distinct site typically closed to the public. This tiny adobe synagogue is believed to be the sole one of its forms in the world. Hebrew prayers are painted on its earthen partitions and its ark is decorated with Amazigh decorations.
Afterward, you pressure through the very lovely coast of the Atlantic Ocean in the direction of Essaouira. On the way, we will ignore via Agadir where we will spend some time discovering the secrets and techniques of this incredible city. Agadir is one of the largest cities in Morocco and it is very well-known for its lovely beaches. After an elective lunch, we continue the journey to Essaouira along the Atlantic coast, passing via Taghazout beach. Overnight with dinner at the hotel in Essaouira.
you will explore Essaouira, an easily navigable metropolis and ideal for a free day. Although at the beginning Portuguese, Essaouira was fortified by means of a French-influenced architect named Vauban, and also formed the settling ground for a large Jewish population, so the city has an eclectic, multicultural feel.
As end result of these influences, Essaouira has become the premier vacation spot for artists and intellectuals. The city’s secure microclimate gives it a moderate winter and a cool summer, so you can make the most of the seashores year-round. The city was once over thirty percent Jewish and contained over thirty synagogues, some dating lower back to the eighteenth century.
You will go to some of these synagogues, as nicely as the tomb of Rabbi Chaim Pinto, who is the object of an annual pilgrimage in the week previous Rosh Hashanah, located in the vast Jewish cemetery adjacent to the Atlantic Ocean. Don’t go away Essaouira except journeying the neighborhood artisans, who are regarded for their marquetry furnishings with complicated designs inlaid in the roots of cedar. In the afternoon, we’ll head closer to Marrakech.
En route, you will see many Argan trees, necessary to the vicinity each economically and ecologically. At the women’s Co-operative of Argan Oil, there will be a probability to research the extensive-ranging purposes of the oil from cosmetics to medicines. After several stops to take photographs, you will proceed with your journey to Marrakech.
After breakfast, you will revel in a guided tour of Marrakech. You will begin the tour with a picturesque stop at the stunning Koutoubia Mosque as the landmark of Marrakech which has stimulated other structures such as the Giralda of Seville and the Hassan Tower of Rabat.
Your subsequent quit is the Bahia Palace and the Saadian Tombs. Afterward, you will go to the sixteenth-century Jewish quarter, the Slat el Azama Synagogue, and the sixteenth-century Jewish cemetery. After the lunch break, You Continue to the world-famous Jemaa el Fna Square, which houses an array of food, snake charmers, local musicians, and fortune-tellers.
There’s nowhere on Earth like the Jemaa el Fna, the rectangular at the heart of historical Marrakesh. You will also discover the colorful Souks the place heaps of handicrafts. A night with breakfast at the Hotel.
The morning is at entertainment to relax in Marrakech and go to the wonderful Majorelle and Yves Saint Laurent gardens. After lunch, drive into the financial capital Casablanca. Upon arrival, you will have time to stroll along the Atlantic coast. Overnight with breakfast at the hotel.
Depending on your flight time, Our driver will take you to Mohammed V International airport