Ceci’s Watson Journey

When visiting Meknes with my family a few weeks ago, we befriended one Jewish man who works at the ancient synagogue in the mellah, granting access to tourists, answering their questions and maintaining the building. He invited me to stay at his house when I returned to Meknes, and acted as my guide and Jewish liason for 2 days while I conducted research. I interviewed about 10 Jews in the city, met many others and the following is a compilation of their stories:

Accounts of life pre-migration were generally positive. One man who was born in 1932 quoted the population at 20,00 at its peak, all of whom used to live in the old and new mellah. The official number according to the brochure I received from the Moroccan Jewish community is 13,000. Reports of the mellah at those times were glowing; its narrow streets were filled to the brim with Jews, synagogues, kosher butchers etc. and the Jews of that time were strictly observant. The Jews of Meknes were of course protected from the effects of World War II by King Hassan II, like the rest of the Moroccan Jews, and after the war and independence, were permitted to stay or leave the country if they wished. On the other hand, however, I did hear reports of small-scale problems with Arabs around the 70s and 80s, corresponding to wars with Israel: young boys stealing kippahs and badgering some Jews. Those who told this story did confirm that it was indeed a trivial issue, and did not reflect the vibrancy of Jewish life or the amicable relations between Muslims and Jews in Meknes. Meknesian Jews described these relations as peaceful, but not completely friendly because they were able to work together, but probably would not, for example, frequent the other’s house for dinner.

According to varying sources, the migration of Jews from Meknes began in the 1950s or the 1970s, but probably began in the former and continued through the latter and until present day. The reasons for leaving varied from family to family, but reflected the reasons I learned in other cities. Many of the early migrants left because of their Zionist ideology and desire to live in the Jewish homeland, while those who were less fortunate in Meknes left hoping to start a new, better and more viable life in Israel. It seemed that migrating for Zionist reasons was more prevalent in Meknes than, for example, Casablanca and Tangier, which resulted in Israel being the destination for most of Meknesian Jews, while less emigrated to France and Canada. Furthermore, those that left in more recent years were the young generation of Jews that finished school in Meknes at the age of 18 and migrated in order to continue their education in universities outside of Morocco. One woman told me numerous times that “only the rich and the retired remained in Meknes,” which I found to be true for the most part.

All of the Jews I spoke to continue to enjoy their Jewish lives in Meknes; they maintain that they have less problems now than even in the past, everything they could want to lead a Jewish life (a shochet, or the Jewish person that slaughters animals in a kosher manner, comes to Meknes from Fes to provide meat for the community, and a new synagogue in the new city usually receives a minyan for Shabbat services). The only complaint is about the diminishing size of the community, which now numbers around 50 or 60. Additionally, only 3 families still actually reside inside the mellah. Interestingly, the current peaceful state of the Jewish community was not solely attributed to the protection offered to the community by the King, as in many other cities. A few of the interviewees argued that when there was a large Jewish population in Meknes it threatened their Arab counterparts and led to the “problems” mentioned previousoly. Now, however, the perceived threat diminished as the community did as well, and the Muslims are more accepting and amicable to the Jewish community today.

Here are a few other interesting stories I heard while in Meknes:

• I met a woman in her 40s that was born in Meknes, but has lived in France since she was 19 years old. She was only in Meknes to sell her father’s shop and overall had a mixed review of Arab-Jewish relations in Meknes. However, she did make it a point to tell me the following story: When our forefather Joshua arrived to the land of Canaan promised to the Jews by G-d in the covenant, he sent messages to the many tribes/nations living on the land to put down their arms and leave because they were coming to conquer it. According to the legend, only one nation actually did so, and in return, G-d promised them a land of their own, similar to Israel. These people settled in Morocco and during the Jewish peak in Meknes the city was referred to as “Little Jerusalem.”
• I spent a few hours one day with a couple that has lived in the mellah since they were married in 1951, and the man told me that he remained in Meknes because he had a business and money here and there were never problems with the Arabs. However, all of his eight children moved to either Israel or France, where he subsequently bought apartments and now divides his time among the three countries. When I asked him why they moved, he replied that it was because of the lack of “bitachon” (Hebrew word for security) in Meknes. I was confused because he had just told me that there were no problems among the communities and also because the answer I am accustomed to is “they went for university.” When I pushed him on this issue he explained that security can only exist in Israel; he reminded me that the Jews in Germany were well-off and believed they were safe before Hitler came to power, and that I should not believe that the same could not happen anywhere else, especially in America.

While Meknes’ recent Jewish history seems to possess a character quite its own, with a strong sense of pride in its past vibrancy, it still faces the same grim future as that of Tangier and many of the other Moroccan cities I will visit. With only 2 members of the community under the age of 50, the persistence of Jewish life in Meknes is seriously threatened.