Vanessa Paloma Elbaz has dedicated years to collecting and performing Moroccan Jewish music. She recently presented some of her findings at the Museum of Moroccan Judaism in Casablanca:
“Many young people [in Morocco today] have never heard of Judeo-Arab music,” Paloma says. . . . In the 1950s, the kingdom [of Morocco] had nearly 300,000 citizens of the Jewish faith. But successive Arab-Israeli conflicts, calls to emigrate to Israel, and many departures to France and Canada in particular have brought this presence to less than 5,000. Moroccan Jews, however, remain the largest Jewish community in North Africa. . . .
The sound library [assembled by Paloma] includes two types of records: songs and popular Moroccan Jewish music in a commercial format and recorded stories told by Moroccan Jewish families.
The Museum of Moroccan Judaism, founded in Casablanca by the Moroccan writer and politician Simon Levy, has a large display of clothing, jewelry, and handicrafts . . . [and] is the first of its kind in the Arab world.
Read more at The View from Fez
More about: Arts & Culture, Jewish museums, Jewish music, Mizrahi Jewry, Moroccan Jewry