Miaara Jewish Cemetery

Established 1537 — twenty-one years before the mellah itself. The oldest Jewish site in Marrakech.

Sprawling walls surround it. Whitewashed tombs, hundreds of them, baking in the sun. Many Tzaddikim — righteous ones — are buried here, including Rabbi Pinchas HaCohen. The cemetery is of enormous historical importance to the Jewish community of Morocco. Families who left for Israel, for France, for Montreal still return to visit.

The tombs face Jerusalem. Four thousand kilometres east. Every Jewish cemetery in Morocco does this — a compass built into grief.