Joseph Smouha’s City in Alexandria was amongst the Jewish properties nationalized by Nasser’s regime. Pictured here: Smouha Sporting Club, Alexandria, Egypt (Photo courtesy of the Government of Alexandria)
Scottish-born George Ricketts moved to Morocco on account of the warm climate and people. In time, Ricketts teamed-up with his friend and Morocco’s only Jewish tour guide, Raphael David ElMaleh, to write, Jews under Moroccan Skies: Two Thousand Years of Jewish Life. The book is both a historical text and travel guide: “When the readers reach a Jewish site or a place where the Moroccan Jews used to live, they are able to read about it while standing right there, and hopefully feel some connection to the former occupants, as I did when visiting such places.”
Raphy ElMaleh returns to Taroudant, to the cafe where he first began his journey in the early 1990s to explore southern Moroccan Jewish heritage sites. ElMaleh, today a native of Casablanca, recounts how he felt drawn to explore the mysterious southern section of Morocco, but also how he felt nervous: Taroudant was a different world.
ElMaleh describes meeting an Amazigh (“Berber”) Muslim man named Moulay at the cafe in Taroudant’s main square. Moulay was a retired bus porter who knew the region well. Amused by the young Jewish man sitting next to him in the cafe, Moulay offered to be his guide to the south.
In this video, Raphy recounts some of their initial adventures, including spending Friday night with the last Jew in Taroudant (a man named Siso) and discovering a synagogue guardian waiting for the Jews to return (in the village of Arazane). At the time, Raphy was a curious young man eager to find hidden treasures in the south. As he laments in the video, he regrets that he did not have a camcorder then to document the colorful personalities he encountered, many of whom have since passed.
ElMaleh’s vivid recollections provide insight into the process of uncovering the region’s hidden Jewish history. To see more Raphy and explore Jewish sites throughout Morocco, visit the Diarna Geo-Museum’s online exhibition D’fina: Jewish Treasures of Morocco.
Daily Sabah, a liberal Turkish daily, sat down for an interview with Karen Gerson Şarhon, the head of the Ottoman-Turkish Sephardic Cultural Research Center. Among the subjects discussed: Sephardi cuisine, Turkish Jewish music, matchmakers, and baby showers.
January 13th, 17th, 19th, and 21st
at The Center for Jewish History
15 West 16th Street, New York, NY
Back by popular demand, the American Sephardi Federation invites you to David Serero’s The Merchant of Venice. Playing to sold-out shows in the summer, the French-Moroccan baritone opera singer once again directs and stars (as Shylock) in his Sephardi adaptation of Shakespeare’s play about love, commerce, and bigotry. Featuring a diverse cast and Sephardi music, there will be a preview matinee on January 13th, ahead of opening night on January 17th.
Come visit ASF’s Leon Levy Gallery at The Center for Jewish History (15 West 16th Street) to view our new exhibition: “Baghdadis & The Bene Israel in Bollywood & Beyond: Indian Jews in the Movies”
on display now through March 2016
Click here for viewing hours and additional information
The American Sephardi Federation invites you to experience
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The American Sephardi Federation's Sephardi House is located at the Center for Jewish History (15 West 16th St., New York, New York, 10011).