MUSIC VIDEO: Amonai Shamati—Moroccan High Holy Day Piyyut

Published on September 9, 2008

Beautiful, pleading Sephardic High Holy Day piyyut recited on Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur before Amidah. Tradtional Moroccan melody sung by Eyal Bitton.

Lebhar’s Dream

By David Suissa
Published on August 5, 2008

Our Moroccan ancestors, the rabbi explained, were Torah romantics. They were so in love with Shabbat that they didn't want it to end

AUDIO: The Jews of Morocco, Tunisia, Turkey, India, China and Iran

By The Web Guy
Published on July 12, 2008

Jewish communities that we don't hear very much about, in Morocco, Tunisia, Turkey, India, China, Iraq and Iran

Paris with a Jewish accent

By David Suissa
Published on May 29, 2008

The transformation of Israeli food—from falafel to fennel

By Judy Nathan
Published on May 21, 2008

The 60th anniversary of the State of Israel is a good time to reflect on how this young country has progressed during its mere six decades of existence. Its economic growth, its leading role in technological advances and its presence in world affairs are all impressive, but most notable to me is the transformation of Israeli food from mundane and unknown to cutting edge and creative. Modern-day Israeli cuisine reflects ethnic, cultural, and religious diversity.

VIDEO: Moroccan Jewish sacred singing

By Vanessa Paloma
Published on May 11, 2008

Video of Moroccan Jewish sacred singing.

The other refugees

By David Suissa
Published on April 24, 2008

Is there a more loaded word in the Arab-Israeli conflict than "refugee"

Henna party adds colorful touch to the happy couple

By Ayala Or-el
Published on April 10, 2008

Sareet Rimon grew up knowing she wanted to have a henna party when she got married. For the local singer it meant carrying on a Moroccan tradition that had been honored by her mother, grandmother and great-grandmother.

The possible Jew

By David Suissa
Published on January 10, 2008

Talk about a possible man: A Sephardic Jew from a famous rabbinic family journeys with the French literary crowd, immerses himself in the curative world of a Japanese mystic and ends up as the cherished prince of a Chasidic movement.

Letter from Tangier: Preserving the music of the Jews of Morocco

By Vanessa Paloma
Published on September 13, 2007

I am in Morocco for five months on a Senior Fulbright award from the State Department and the Moroccan government, researching Judeo-Spanish songs from Northern Morocco for their connection to liturgical poetry and kabbalistic practices.

Briefs: Separation fence must be moved, court says; Olmert expands Fatah amnesty; Jewish woman eyes

Published on September 8, 2007

News briefs.

Shabbat Shalom and thanks for all the gefilte fish

By JewishJournal.com
Published on September 7, 2007

Rabbi Pinto’s miracles

By David Suissa
Published on November 30, 2006

Today, one of the great Moroccan sages, Rabbi Chaim Pinto of the city of Mogador, has a living presence right here in our own hood, on Pico Boulevard, just east of Robertson. It's at a little shul called the Pinto Center.

Let My People Watch TV

By Tom Tugend
Published on March 30, 2006

A new version of "The Ten Commandments," with its timeless themes of slavery and freedom, faith and doubt, adultery and fidelity, battles and miracles, has been shaped into a four-hour miniseries by ABC-TV.

Morocco Bombings Shock Emigres

By Philip Carmel
Published on May 22, 2003

"We are deeply shocked, but we are not afraid," Serge Berdugo said. "People here know it is a global fight against the terrorists, the same for Muslims as for Jews. There were no victims from our own community, but this has come like a bolt from the blue."

Tangier’s Casualty

By Mike Seid
Published on May 16, 2002

Most of my background -- childhood in Santa Monica, high school at Harvard-Westlake, classics degree from Harvard University -- reinforced certain principles: tolerance, the equal value of all cultures, the idea that sympathy, discussion and negotiation can solve most grievances and that force should rarely be used.

The New Year’s Sephardic Seder

By Julie G Fax
Published on September 13, 2001

It may not be as long and involved as the Passover seder, but for Raquel Bensimon, the ritualized dinner of Rosh Hashana is just as sweet and just as replete with memories.

Farewell to a Friend

By Eric Silver
Published on July 29, 1999

Israel had good reason to remember King Hassan II of Morocco as "a friend and a statesman," and not just because of his tireless efforts to build bridges between the Jewish state and its Arab neighbors.
Secret cooperation between the Moroccan and Israeli intelligence services began in 1961 under King Hassan's father, Mohammed V, who allowed Moroccan Jews to emigrate to Israel. The younger monarch broadened and institutionalized the contacts after Meir Amit, the then-head of the Mossad, Israel's CIA, clandestinely met Hassan in Marrakech in 1964. Undercover contacts continued, with only two brief interruptions, until Hassan's death last Friday.

Discovering Morocco

By Orit Arfa
Published on May 6, 1999

If you think that with the tense climate in the Middle East no Muslim country would warmly welcome, let alone happily invite, Jewish visitors, then you haven't been to Morocco.