Toby and Allan in Morocco and France 2014: Arriving in Casablanca- the adventure starts

After a seven hour flight from Toronto to Amsterdam (leaving 5:30 p.m. on May 29) on a 30 year old KLM plane, a four hour layover in Amsterdam, and a three hour flight on Transavia (an airline affiliated with KLM which we had never heard of) to Casablanca, we finally arrived at about 2:00 p.m., only 30 minutes late.

Coastline of Spain, heading across the water to Morocco

Luckily, we were able to find our guide, Mohammed. It turns out that we are the only two people on the tour, which officially starts the morning of June 1. Mohammed is open to making any stops we want. Our first was to take a photo of the huge Moroccan flags that line the highway into town.

Moroccan flags en route to Casablanca

Just outside the city centre in a suburb called Oasis, Mohammed asked us whether we were interested in stopping at the Musee du Judaisme Marocain de Casablanca (Moroccan Jewish Museum). We were intrigued and thought that this was an opportunity we should not forgo, even though we were severely jet-laggged. It turned out the museum was open to 5:00 p.m. so we were able to visit. The museum opened in 1997 and is the only Jewish Museum in the Islamic World!

It is housed in a building that operated as a Jewish orphanage from 1948-70. It is a museum of history and ethnography with a number of rooms with artifacts from Jewish life in Morocco as well as two rooms with interiors from two old synagogues. There was also a photography exhibition of a number of synagogues across Morocco, some of which have been recently renovated.

Outside of Museum

Inside entrance

Preamble from 2011 constitution with reference to Jewish influences on Moroccan identity

Collection of Jewish-Moroccan clothing

Modern Menorah 2012

Silver jewellery (many Jewish silversmiths) Some with combination Jewish Moroccan symbols

From Synagogue Pariente in Northern Morocco 1930

From synagogue Ben-Isakhar 1934-39

Just as we were leaving, we met the woman in charge of the collection. She told us about the history of the building and the collection. She told us there are presently only around 5000 Jews in Morocco, the vast majority living in Casablanca. There still are many synagogues in Casablanca (up to 30 at one time) and even a Jewish club still remaining. The Jewish population before 1949 was around 300,000. Many immigrated to Israel, Canada and other countries, with most leaving in the 1950s. The remaining community in Casablanca was responsible for the creation of the museum, which was recently renovated in 2013.

For more info see:http://casajewishmuseum.com

Mohammed then took us to our hotel near the United Nations Plaza. We crashed for a few hours and then had a late dinner at the hotel buffet. One downside with tours are that most dinners are included. However as we were tired, this suited us fine for our first night in Morocco. We then went for a quick walk in the neighbourhood. The climate in Casablanca is mediterranean --- it was 23C and warm during the day, but much cooler at night, which is great for walking. We passed by a number of cafes (mostly men having coffee or mint tea) and some interesting buildings. There is also a very modern LRT near us. We'll try and get a picture while we are here.