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American Joint Distribution Committee Office, Casablanca, Morocco
The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee's Morocco bureau is located in an unassuming office building surrounded by hotels, down the street from a Starbucks and Kentucky Fried Chicken, in the country's most populated city: Casablanca.1 While the buidling's facade may not get a passerby to stop, the JDC has provided unequivable support for the Jews of Moroocco and the local communities since its opening in 1946. With the majority of Morocco's Jews living in Casablanca, the JDC is a community resource and a connection to the Jews of the diaspora.2
The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, Casablanca: The office of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (the JDC or "The Joint") is located at 53 Boulevard d'Anfa, Casablanca, Morocco, near other Jewish institutions. In Casablanca, the JDC provides funding for Ozar Hatorah and Alliance Israelite Universale schools and works with the Council of Jewish Communities, which is the umbrella organization that oversees all of Morocco's Jewish communities.3 In recent years, working in close partnership with local leadership, JDC helped establish and continues to support the extraordinary new Fred & Velva Levine Community Residence, which provides independent living for needy elderly welfare clients in Casablanca. It is next door to the Jewish Home for the Aged, which provides a dignified and safe environment for 30 residents, with full medical and nursing care available—again with JDC’s ongoing support.4
Description
American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee: The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) is one of the oldest Jewish humanitarian organizations in modern times. Founded in 1914, the JDC's mission was to aid “vulnerable” people around the world and adhere to the tenet of Jews helping other Jews.5 Located in over 70 countries, the JDC partners with the local communities to provide assistance for those in need, as well as a resource for Jews in the region.6
In response to the onset of World War I and the devastation it wreaked on thousands of Jewish communities in war-torn regions, the newly-formed
American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee initiated massive relief projects in Palestine to sustain fragile communities and across Eastern
Europe to support communities devastated by the war.7 The JDC has also worked on creating archives of social, cultural, political, and economic Jewish life for several Middle Eastern and North African countries for the years 1940 to 1977.8
JDC in Morocco: The JDC, located in Casablanca, was established in 1946. One of the JDC’s first acts in Morocco was to aid refugees fleeing Nazi Europe for Tangier. The Casablanca office of the JDC functions on 4 main pillars: providing support for Morocco’s poorest Jews; providing Jewish education for the youngest generations; improving community infrastructure and training programs for local leaders; and providing mobile outreach for Morocco’s most disadvantaged communities.9 In 2016, the JDC began offering "intergenerational" trips for the purpose of providing an opportunity for families with adult children to engage in cross-cultural exchange in Morocco.10
Jews in Casablanca and Morocco: In 1948, it was estimated that 265,000 Jews lived in Morocco. Of the 32.5 million people living in Morocco today, only an estimated 4,000 to 4,500 are Jewish, the majority living in Casablanca. Although the Jews of Morocco can date their presence throughout the country to the Carthaginian Period (over 2,500 years ago), the two largest waves of immigration occured first, after the fall of the Second Temple of Jerusalem in 70 CE; and second, in the 15th century, during the time of the Inquisition and the Reconquista in Spain.
Places in Morocco where vibrant Jewish communities used to be located now have little to no Jews left, from the Atlas Mountains to Marrakesh. However, trips such as the ones the JDC operates give Jews living the diaspora, from the United States to Israel, a chance to reconnect with their Moroccan heritage. Casablanca has the largest population of Jews in Morocco, the closest resembling an interconnected, vibrant community: it has six day schools, 18 kosher butchers, and 28 synagogues.11 Though most Jews left since the creation of the state of Israel and following the revolution in 1956, the JDC still provides crucial support to the Jews in Morocco, as well as the local communities through partnerships with other Jewish institutions in Morocco and local non-governmental organizations.12
Casablanca, Morocco
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Sources
Bibliography:
[1] World Atlas. "Morocco Facts." Accessed June 29, 2016. http://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/africa/morocco/mafacts.htm.
[2] The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee. "Morocco." Accessed June 22,
2016. http://www.jdc.org/where-we-work/africa/morocco.html.
[3] Ibid.
[4] The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee. "For Elderly Moroccan Jews, Residence Offers Refuge and Community." Accessed June 29, 2016. http://www.jdc.org/news/features/for-elderly-moroccan-jews.html
[5] The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee. “About JDC.” Accessed June 22,
2016. http://www.jdc.org/about-jdc/.
[6] The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee. “Where We Work.” Accessed
June 22, 2016. http://www.jdc.org/where-we-work/.
[7] The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee. "History Timeline." Accessed June 29, 2016. http://archives.jdc.org/history-of-jdc/text-only.html?referrer=https://www.google.com/.
[8] Hazine. "The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee Archives (Jerusalem)." Accessed June 29, 2016. http://hazine.info/jdc/.
[9] "Morocco."
[10] The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee. "Sample Morocco Trip Itinerary." Accessed June 29, 2016. http://www.jdc.org/get-involved/intergenerational-trip/sample-morocco-trip-itinerary-2.pdf
[11] Jewish Exponent. "A Mission to Morocco." Accessed June 29, 2016. http://www.jewishexponent.com/opinion/2016/05/a-mission-to-morocco.
[12] "Morocco."