Musée du Judaïsme Marocain

The Musée du Judaïsme Marocain, or Museum of Moroccan Judaism, is a landmark cultural institution that holds the distinction of being the only museum devoted to Jewish heritage in the Arab world. Created in 1997 by the Foundation for Moroccan-Jewish Cultural Heritage, the museum is housed in the former Murdock Bengio Children’s Home, a Jewish orphanage built in 1948 in the Oasis neighborhood of Casablanca. The building was restored in 1995 and 1996 by architect Aimé Kakon and opened to the public the following year. Covering 700 square metres, the museum comprises a large multipurpose room used for temporary exhibitions and five permanent exhibition rooms. The permanent collection is organized thematically and covers religious life, daily customs, traditional craftsmanship, music, and community history. Among the highlights are Torah scrolls and their ornamental coverings, Hanukkah lamps, ceremonial bar mitzvah objects, circumcision chairs, and several meticulously reconstructed synagogue interiors, including the Larache synagogue of the 1930s and the Meknes synagogue. Photographs, manuscripts in Judeo-Arabic written in Hebrew characters, and traditional Jewish costumes from different regions of Morocco complete the collections. The museum also welcomes researchers and students and organizes guided group visits in French and English. King Mohammed VI officially inaugurated the renovated facility in December 2016, reaffirming the museum’s symbolic importance to Morocco’s plural identity.