King Mohammed VI endorsed a reorganisation of the Jewish community in Morocco, “component” of the national culture, during a Council of ministers that he exceptionally chaired at the Royal Palace in Rabat.
At the end of the council, Interior Minister Abdelouafi Laftit presented the monarch with new measures concerning the organization of the Moroccan Jewish community, according to a statement by Royal Palace spokesman Abdelhak Lamrini.
These measures “elaborated, in application of the High Royal instructions” “come to consecrate Hebraic tributary as a component of the Moroccan culture rich in its multiple tributaries”, underlined the statement published by the official agency MAP.
The Moroccan Jewish community, estimated today at 3,000 people, remains the largest in North Africa, despite a massive departure to Israel after the creation of the Hebrew state in 1948.
Present since antiquity, strengthened in the 15th century by the expulsion of Jews from Spain, this community reached 250,000 souls in the late 1940s.
The new provisions were drawn up following consultations with representatives and personalities of the Jewish community, according to the royal statement.
They establish a National Council of the Moroccan Jewish Community, responsible for “managing the affairs of the community and safeguarding the cultural heritage and religious influence of Judaism and its authentic Moroccan values”.
They also provide for the creation of a Commission of Moroccan Jews Abroad which “works to consolidate the ties of Moroccan Jews living abroad with their country of origin”
Finally, a Foundation of Moroccan Judaism has been created to “promote and watch over the intangible heritage of Moroccan Judaism, to safeguard its traditions and to preserve its specificities”.
