page_title: Moroccan Jews
section_title: Communities today
hierarchical_section_title: Moroccan Jews / Communities today
caption_attribution_description: English: The "new" Jewish cemetery in Essaouira, Morroco, which stared to be used from around 1875.
context_page_description: Moroccan Jews are Jews who live or have lived in Morocco. Significant Jewish population migrated from Spain and Portugal, after the Spanish Inquisition, to this area and settled among the Arab-Berbers. They were later met by a second wave of migration from the Iberian peninsula in the period immediately preceding and following the 1492 Alhambra Decree, when the Jews were expelled from Spain, and soon afterwards, from Portugal as well. This second immigration wave deeply modified Moroccan Jewry, who largely embraced the Andalusian Sephardic liturgy, making the Moroccan Jews switch to a mostly Sephardic identity.
  At its peak in the 1940s, Morocco's Jewish population exceeded 250,000, but due to the migration of Moroccan Jews to Israel and other nations, including Operation Yachin from 1961 to 1964, this number has been reduced to approximately 5,000. The vast majority of Moroccan Jews now live in Israel, where they constitute the second-largest Jewish community, approximately half a million. Other communities are found in France, Canada, Spain, the United States and South America, mainly in Venezuela, Brazil and Argentina.
context_section_description: Morocco: In 2012 it was estimated that 2,000–2,500 Jews still lived in Morocco, mainly in Casablanca. Other towns are said to have smaller, aging populations.
  Israel: The 1950s saw large waves of Jewish emigration from Morocco to Israel. Many Moroccan Jews were transferred to peripheral development towns while others settled in larger, established cities. Today, Jews of Moroccan descent can be found all across Israel.
  France: Large communities in France include Paris, Marseille, Strasbourg, Lyon and Nice.
  Argentina: Mainly in Buenos Aires and Rosario.
  Brazil: Amazonian Jews mainly in Belem (about 450 families), Manaus (about 250 families) and Rio de Janeiro (about 100 families), with small communities scattered throughout the Amazon region. In 2009 made 200 years of the first wave of immigration to Amazon region.
  Canada: In the 1950s Canada began extending visas to Jews from Morocco. Large communities developed in Montreal and Toronto. Moroccans were attracted to Canada because of its high quality of life and to Montreal in particular because of the French language. Toronto is known for its significant Moroccan population originating from cities such as Tangiers and Tetouan. In the recent past, however, an emergence of French-Moroccan musical liturgy and customs has been noticed even in this dominant Moroccan city. For example, the traditional Moroccan Bakashot, classical music sung by Sephardic Jews in the winter months across countries in the Middle East on Friday night, has come to life in recent productions by Magen David Congregation and Abir Ya'akob Congregation.
  Venezuela: Concentrated mainly in Caracas.
  Gibraltar: The Jewish community in Gibraltar originates from Tangiers and Tetouan.
  United States: In 1972 the Moroccan Jewish Organization (MJO) was founded. Founding Members created Moroccan Services & a Synagogue in Forest Hills, NY named Shaar Hashamayim Sephardic Synagogue. Members and Participants of MJO went on to create other Moroccan Synagogues and Batei Midrashot / Houses of [Torah] Study in Manhattan (Manhattan Sephardic Cong.), Brooklyn (Netivot Yisrael), Fort Lee, NJ, Cedarhurst (HaChaim veHaShalom) and Philadelphia, PA.
caption: Jewish cemetery, Essaouira
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