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Em Habbanim School and Synagogue, Casablanca, Morocco
Once operating out of a small, “dilapidated” canteen, the Em Habanim (Habbanim) school in Casablanca, Morocco became a center of Jewish congregation by the late 1950s (1). By the 1960s, the school stood as a two-story building on 270 square meters of land, across from a charming synagogue, which welcomed the greater Jewish community (2). Despite the increase in space, Em Habanim was always bustling, filled with the voices of young boys, playing and learning. The Em Habanim school was part of the Ozar/Osar Hatorah system, with a Jewish orthodox curriculum that included instruction in Hebrew, Arabic, and French (3). Before the final mass emigration of Jews from Morocco following its independence in 1956, the Em Habanim school in Casablanca accommodated a total of 9 instructors and 346 students (4). Em Habanim was a school for boys, primarily meant to help disadvantaged youth access quality education and religious enrichment. Entering students were at least 6 years of age, and the length of instruction was 7 years total (5). The school in Casablanca still exists today, is no longer gender-segregated (due to the limited number of Jewish pupils in Morocco), and is still connected to the remaining Jewish Moroccan community through the endearing synagogue attached.
Description
Em Habanim: ‘Em Habanim’ in Arabic, translates to “Mother of the boys.” In fact, a group of Moroccan Jewish women and mothers started a network of schools and orphanages throughout Morocco, specifically in the mellah of Sefrou, under the title of ‘Em Habanim’ in the early 20th century (6). Although this is not the same network to which the Em Habanim school in Casablanca belongs, the values of educating and caring for young Jewish children in Morocco is consistent.
The Em Habanim school in Casablanca was founded in 1942--a difficult time for world Jewry. The founders were brothers, Moise and David Bendayan (7). The point of the school was, that no matter what the circumstances, children of varying levels of privilege were to be educated, immersed in religion, and provided with the necessary space and materials to practice their religion properly (8). The Em Habanim school received grants from the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC or JOINT), a Jewish support and assistance organization based out of New York City. The JDC was founded in 1914, and supported many networks of Jewish education, including the Alliance Israelite Universelle (AIU) (9).
Ozar Hatorah: The Em Habanim school is part of a network of Ozar Hatorah schools throughout the Middle East and North Africa. Ozar Hatorah is a non-profit organization created in 1945 by a New Yorker of Syrian decent, named Isaac Shalom (10). The grand concern that brought Shalom and his partners to create the organization was what they saw as a threatening, “Jewish spiritual decline and intellectual impoverishment” (11).
In total, there were three Ozar Hatorah-affiliated Em Habanim schools in Morocco in the 1950s: Casablanca, Fez, and Sefrou. Incidentally, Ozar Hatorah means, “the wealth of the torah,” and is a strongly religious organization. Ozar Hatorah affiliated schools, like Em Habanim, are often Jewish Orthodox, and take pride in religious excellence. This tenet came into tension when Ozar Hatorah schools had to coexist, and even share funding and other resources with more secular Jewish educational institutions, such as the AIU (12). Although the tension between the differently-minded institutions was quite real, Ozar Hatorah schools often supplemented their French instruction with AIU-trained teachers (13). Overall, the two institutions had different ways of educating, but shared the drive to improve the lives of Jewish Moroccan children and families.
Em Habanim in North Hollywood: The Em Habanim school network has emigrated to the US along with many Sephardic Jews of Morocco and of Moroccan descent. Serving as a religious and cultural network, the Em Habanim Sephardic Congregation was founded in North Hollywood, CA roughly 40 years ago (14).
Sources
[1] "Em Habanim - Casablanca," Jew From Morocco, accessed July 8, 2016, http://juifdumaroc.over-blog.com/2014/08/em-habanim-casablanca.html.
[2] "Em Habanim - Casablanca," Jew From Morocco, accessed July 8, 2016, http://juifdumaroc.over-blog.com/2014/08/em-habanim-casablanca.html.
[3] "Em Habanim - Casablanca," Jew From Morocco, accessed July 8, 2016, http://juifdumaroc.over-blog.com/2014/08/em-habanim-casablanca.html.
[4] Michael Laskier, The Alliance Israelite Universelle and the Jewish Communities of Morocco: 1862-1962, (State University of New York Press, 1983) 249.
[5] "Em Habanim - Casablanca," Jew From Morocco, accessed July 8, 2016, http://juifdumaroc.over-blog.com/2014/08/em-habanim-casablanca.html.
[6] "Journeys Dispatches: Connecting the World Through Travel," Smithsonian Journeys, accessed July 8, 2016, http://www.smithsonianjourneys.org/blog/in-search-of-moroccos-lost-jewish-heritage-180951296/.
[7] "Em Habanim - Casablanca," Jew From Morocco, accessed July 8, 2016, http://juifdumaroc.over-blog.com/2014/08/em-habanim-casablanca.html.
[8] "Em Habanim - Casablanca," Jew From Morocco, accessed July 8, 2016, http://juifdumaroc.over-blog.com/2014/08/em-habanim-casablanca.html.
[9] "The Info List - American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee," The Info List, accessed July 9, 2016, http://www.theinfolist.com/php/SummaryGet.php?FindGo=American%20Jewish%20Joint%20Distribution%20Committee.
[10] "The Info List - American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee," The Info List, accessed July 9, 2016, http://www.theinfolist.com/php/SummaryGet.php?FindGo=American%20Jewish%20Joint%20Distribution%20Committee.
[11] "The Info List - American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee," The Info List, accessed July 9, 2016, http://www.theinfolist.com/php/SummaryGet.php?FindGo=American%20Jewish%20Joint%20Distribution%20Committee.
[12] Michael Laskier, The Alliance Israelite Universelle and the Jewish Communities of Morocco: 1862-1962, (State University of New York Press, 1983) 249.
[13] Michael Laskier, The Alliance Israelite Universelle and the Jewish Communities of Morocco: 1862-1962, (State University of New York Press, 1983) 249.
[14] "Em Habanim History," Em Habanim Sephardic Congregation, accessed on July 9, 2016, http://www.emhabanim.com/history-and-founders.