Lyn Julius
The Jews of Morocco
Summary
Exploring the history of the Jews in Morocco, the lecture highlights their ancient origins and the complex dynamics of the region. Despite being a minority, the Jews in Morocco have a history spanning at least 2,000 years within the Maghreb, which includes Tunisia and Algeria, with fluid borders and population movement. The influx of Megorashim contributed to the community’s revitalization. Today, Morocco’s strategy involves cultivating positive relations with the Jewish community to garner US support, focusing on restoring Jewish heritage and contributing to Morocco’s tourism.
Lyn Julius
Lyn Julius was born in the UK and educated at the French Lycée in London and the University of Sussex. The daughter of Jewish refugees from Iraq, she is a journalist and founder of Harif, the UK Association of Jews from the Middle East and North Africa (www.harif.org). Lyn blogs daily at Point of No Return (www.jewishrefugees.org.uk). Her work has appeared in the Guardian, Huffington Post, Jewish News, and Jerusalem Post. She has a regular column in the Times of Israel and JNS News. Her book Uprooted: How 3,000 Years of Jewish Civilization in the Arab World Vanished Overnight has been translated in to Norwegian, Portuguese and Arabic, and a Hebrew version is in progress.
Yes, they were. The Romans wanted to get rid of the Jews from Judea, and actually Jews went everywhere. They went into all parts of the Roman Empire and that’s the foundation of the Jewish diaspora in Europe.
Haketia is the Judeo-Spanish language spoken by the Megorashim but the local Arabic, so Jewish Arabic is called Darija.
Not very different, except that the Venice ghetto may not have had a wall around it.
The group in Fez called the Bildiyyīn converted in the 15th century effectively stayed apart from the Muslims because they were discriminated against. They had to wear special clothing and they married amongst themselves. But it wasn’t the same phenomenon in Spain with the Marranos who actually practiced certain Jewish rituals at home secretly.
No. Jewish communities in the Arab world were actually very separate and intermarriage was very rare. But what did happen were these forced abductions of Jewish girls that were forcibly converted to Islam.