Jewish Heritage in Morocco

Jews have lived in Morocco for over 2,000 years — longer than Islam has existed. The earliest communities may have arrived with Phoenician traders. By the Roman period, Jewish settlements dotted North Africa. When the Muslims and Jews were expelled from Spain in 1492, tens of thousands — the Megorashim — crossed to Morocco and joined the Toshavim, the indigenous Jewish population already established for centuries.

The mellah was the Jewish quarter. The word comes from the Arabic for salt — one origin story says Jews were historically tasked with salting the heads of executed criminals for public display. Every major Moroccan city had a mellah: Fes (founded 1438, the first), Marrakech, Meknes, Essaouira, Safi, Tetouan. The mellahs were not ghettos in the European sense — they were distinct quarters with their own synagogues, markets, cemeteries, and communal ovens, often adjacent to the royal palace for protection.

The peak population was approximately 265,000 in 1948. Then Israel was founded. Operation Yachin, a semi-clandestine emigration programme organised with Israeli agents, moved over 90,000 Moroccan Jews to Israel between 1961 and 1964. Others went to France, Canada, and South America. By 1970, fewer than 30,000 remained. Today the number is roughly 1,000 — mostly in Casablanca.

What remains is architectural. The Lazama Synagogue in the Marrakech mellah. The Ibn Danan Synagogue in Fes, restored by the Moroccan government. The Jewish cemetery of Essaouira, whitewashed tombs overlooking the Atlantic. The Slat al-Fassiyyin in Fes — one of the oldest synagogues in the country.

King Mohammed VI has invested in the restoration of Jewish heritage sites across Morocco. The Bayt Dakira — House of Memory — in Essaouira opened in 2020 as a museum of Moroccan Jewish history. The message is deliberate: this heritage belongs to Morocco.

Explore the full interactive module — with mellah maps, synagogue locations, emigration data, and the preservation programme — at Dancing with Lions: https://www.dancingwiththelions.com/data/jewish-heritage