Museum focused on Jewish Moroccan heritage opens in Fez

A museum dedicated to Moroccan Jewish culture has officially opened its doors to the public in Fez, a city which was a center of culture, learning and spirituality since the ninth century.

The museum, which is located in the old Jewish quarter, was officially inaugurated on Monday with a ceremony that included political and religious figures.

Home to great minds such as the 12th-century philosopher and jurist Ibn Rushd and his contemporary, the physician and codifier of Jewish law Maimonides, Fez was shaped by Jewish, Arab, Amazigh, Spanish and French cultures.

It's that shared history that the museum aims to highlight, said President of the National Foundation of Museums, Mehdi Qotbi.

He hoped it will showcase the peaceful co-existence of different cultures who converged on the city, shaping its unique heritage.

Rabbi Joseph Israel, who spoke at the ceremony, called the museum and the breadth of the everyday objects represented as a proof Moroccan Jewish culture.

"This shows that Jews really existed here in this country and that they had good relationships with their Muslim neighbours. They lived in peace and tranquillity and the museum is a lesson for the young people," he added.

Moroccan Jews are a tiny demographic now, as 99% of Jews of Moroccan heritage today live elsewhere.

After major emigrations in the 20th century, only around 2,500 Jews remain in a country where they once made up 5% of the population.

Today an estimated 50,000 live in France, 25,000 in Canada and 25,000 in the United States; and some 1 million Moroccan Jews make up one of Israel’s largest ethnic groups.

"Don't believe that the Jewish community could be reduced to those who live here," Serge Berdugo, chairman of the Foundation for Judeo-Moroccan Cultural Heritage, said.

The permanent exhibition unfolds across two levels.

The ground floor traces more than 2,500 years of Jewish presence in Morocco, while the second floor is devoted to the community's institutional and social structures like synagogues, the Hebrew schools and the rabbinical courts.

Each section includes a range of objects, from everyday attire and jewellery to art and musical instruments, as well as archives and historical manuscripts.

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