The Beit Yehuda Synagogue, also known as Assayag Synagogue, is a cultural landmark and museum in Tangier, Morocco.
Unlike other Moroccan cities, Tangier had no walled Jewish quarter or mellah. [1] : 93 Even so, its synagogues were clustered in a neighborhood on the southwestern side of the medina, [2] known as Beni Idder for the family that initiated its development. [1] : 92
The Beit Yehuda Synagogue was founded in 1890 slightly north of Beni Idder on the other side of rue Es-Siaghine. It remained in service until the late 1950s. It was then abandoned for about six decades. [3]
The former synagogue's revival as a museum was one of the cultural initiatives launched by the Moroccan government in the wake of the Israel–Morocco normalization agreement of December 2020. [4] The renovation was led by architect Malika Laâroussi, and the creation of the museum by museographer Isabelle Timsit. [5] The museum was inaugurated on 19 August 2022. [6]
Rabat is the capital city of Morocco and the country's seventh largest city with an urban population of approximately 580,000 (2014) and a metropolitan population of over 1.2 million. It is also the capital city of the Rabat-Salé-Kénitra administrative region. Rabat is located on the Atlantic Ocean at the mouth of the river Bou Regreg, opposite Salé, the city's main commuter town.
Tangier is a city in northwestern Morocco. It is on the Moroccan coast at the western entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar, where the Mediterranean Sea meets the Atlantic Ocean off Cape Spartel. The town is the capital of the Tanger-Tetouan-Al Hoceima region, as well as the Ṭanja-Aẓila Prefecture of Morocco.
Beit Shemesh is a city located approximately 30 kilometres (19 mi) west of Jerusalem in Israel's Jerusalem District, with a population of 124,957 in 2019.
Moroccan Jews constitute an ancient community. Before the founding of the State of Israel in 1948, there were about 250,000 to 350,000 Jews in the country, which gave Morocco the largest Jewish community in the Muslim world, but by 2017 only 2,000 or so remain. Jews in Morocco, originally speakers of Berber languages, Judeo-Moroccan Arabic or Judaeo-Spanish, were the first in the country to adopt the French language in the mid-19th century, and unlike the Muslim population French remains the main language of members of the Jewish community there.
The Tangier American Legation (Arabic: المفوضية الأميركية في طنجة; French: Légation américaine de Tanger), officially the Tangier American Legation Institute for Moroccan Studies (TALIMS), is a building in the medina of Tangier, Morocco. Formerly the chancery of the United States diplomatic mission to Morocco, it was the first American public property abroad and is the only U.S. National Historic Landmark located in a foreign country.
The history of the Jews in Portugal reaches back over two thousand years and is directly related to Sephardi history, a Jewish ethnic division that represents communities that originated in the Iberian Peninsula.
Sardis Synagogue is a synagogue located in Manisa Province, Turkey, and it is the biggest known synagogue that belongs to ancient world. Sardis was under numerous foreign rulers until its incorporation into the Roman Empire in 133 BCE. The city served then as the administrative center of the Roman province of Lydia. Sardis was reconstructed after the catastrophic AD 17 Lydia earthquake, and it enjoyed a long period of prosperity under the Roman rule.
The Ibn Danan Synagogue is a synagogue in Fes, Morocco, dating from the 17th century. It was built by Mimoun Ben Sidan, a wealthy merchant from the town of Ait Ishaq. The synagogue is located in the Mellah district within Fes el-Jdid, one of the components of the historic medina of Fes.
Congregation Schara Tzedeck is an Orthodox synagogue in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. A place of worship in Greater Vancouver, it is the oldest synagogue and the largest Orthodox synagogue in the city. Its name is Hebrew for "Gates of Righteousness".
The history of the Jews in Gibraltar dates back more than 650 years. There have been periods of persecution, but for the most part the Jews of Gibraltar have prospered and been one of the largest religious minorities in the city, where they have made contributions to the culture, defence, and Government of Gibraltar.
Amazonian Jews are the Jews of the Amazon basin, mainly descendants of Moroccan Jews who migrated to northern Brazil and Peru in the 19th and early 20th centuries. The migrants were attracted to the growing trade in the Amazon region, especially during the rubber boom, as well as to the newly established religious tolerance. They settled in localities along the Amazon River, such as Belém, Cametá, Santarém, Óbidos, Parintins, Itacoatiara and Manaus in Brazil, some venturing as far as Iquitos in Peru.
Tourism in Morocco is well developed, maintaining a strong tourist industry focused on the country's coast, culture, and history. The Moroccan government created a Ministry of Tourism in 1985. Tourism is considered one of the main foreign exchange sources in Morocco and since 2013 it had the highest number of arrivals out of the countries in Africa. In 2018, 12.3 million tourists were reported to have visited Morocco.
Rabbi Ya'akov Moshe Toledano was an Israeli rabbi who served as Minister of Religions for two brief periods between 1958 and 1960. He also served as chief rabbi of Cairo, Alexandria and Tel Aviv.
The Hechal Yehuda Synagogue, also commonly known as the Recanati synagogue, is one of approximately 500 synagogues in Tel Aviv, Israel. Situated on the Menahem ben Saruq street in the city's centre, it is often referred to as the Seashell Synagogue because of its unusual shape resembling a seashell. The design is inspired by the seashells on the shores of the Greek city of Thessaloniki, which is the hometown of the wealthy Recanati family and the synagogue's architect, Yitzhak Toledano. It was the Recanati family who donated the money for the synagogue. It is affiliated with Orthodox Judaism.
Moroccan Jews are Jews who live in or are from Morocco. Moroccan Jews constitute an ancient community dating to Roman times. Jews began immigrating to the region as early as 70 CE. They were later met by a second wave of migrants from the Iberian peninsula in the period which immediately preceded and followed the issuing of the 1492 Alhambra Decree, when Jews were expelled from Spain, and soon afterward, from Portugal. This second wave of immigrants changed Moroccan Jewry, which largely embraced the Andalusian Sephardic liturgy, to switch to a mostly Sephardic identity.
Rue Es-Siaghine is a street in Tangier, Morocco. Under Roman Empire rule it was the decumanus maximus, the main thoroughfare of the city. The street led to the harbor through the south gate. Today the street is lined with cafes and bars and souvenir shops, and leads down into the Petit Socco in the medina of Tangier.
The Petit Socco, also known as the Place Souk Dakhel or in Spanish as Zoco Chico, is a small square in the medina quarter of Tangier, Morocco.
The Kadoorie Mekor Haim Synagogue is a synagogue of the Jewish community of Porto, situated in the civil parish of Lordelo do Ouro e Massarelos, the municipality of Porto, in the Portuguese northern district of Porto. Constructed along the Rua Guerra Junqueiro beginning in 1929 and inaugurated in 1938, it is the largest synagogue in the Iberian Peninsula.
The Museum of Moroccan Judaism is a museum of Jewish life in Morocco in Casablanca, Morocco.
The Isaac Ben Walid Synagogue is a synagogue in the mellah of Tetuan, Morocco.