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Cemetery at Taznakht, Morocco

Taznakht, Morocco

The Jewish cemetery of Taznakht, an isolated town in the sparsely populated rocky landscape south of Ouarzazate, should have decayed into oblivion like many of the remote cemeteries in southern Morocco. Indeed, after Taznakht’s Jewish community left in the 1950s, the cemetery walls began to crumble and tombs began to disintegrate from exposure to the elements and vandalism. But then, in 2005, Charly Bouskila, a Casablanca businessman with roots in Taznakht, decided he had to act to save the burial site of his ancestors and preserve it for future generations. Three years later he inaugurated a gleaming new cemetery complex, with sturdy new walls, dozens of restored tombs, a synagogue, and even a guesthouse. As a result, remote Taznakht today hosts one of the best maintained Jewish cemeteries in all of North Africa.

Description

Setting: Heading southwest from Ouarzazate, the highway is surrounded by a desolate rocky terrain. On the side of the road, a 1950s-style American gas station emerges on the horizon, a prop used for many of the movies filmed by the studios in Ouarzazate. About a half hour past the filling station, the town of Taznakht emerges from the desert landscape. Divided into eastern and western sections, the mellah (Jewish quarter) and Jewish cemetery lie partway toward the eastern half. Situated along a gently sloping hill, the cemetery lies several hundred yards east of the mellah. It is said to be more than 600 years old.

Taznakht’s Jews: The town served as a regional trade hub and is known for its carpets. For centuries Jews lived in the town. In 1954, Israeli academic Haim Zeev Hirschberg visited Taznakht and described 42 local Jewish families, comprising about 300 people (see his Hebrew book Me-Eretz Mevo ha-Shemesh). The community, according to Hirschberg, was economically successful in a range of professions yet soon planned to make aliyah to Israel en masse. The locals claimed to live in relative safety, with only one member of the community murdered by a Muslim within living memory. The mellah apparently had two synagogues, joined by a common wall, with the older synagogue featuring illustrations of a shofar, lulav, etrog, and traditional Berber stylings.

Sepher Tislit: Legendary saints buried in the cemetery include Aharon Hacohen, Ait El-Cohen, Isso Ibgui, Lalla Simha Ruben, and Moshe Wizeman. But the town’s real claim to fame was Sepher Tislit. The Torah scroll of Tislit by tradition a Torah from Jerusalem stored in the old synagogue that itself received pilgrims at an annual hiloula. The scroll was known to have performed many miracles and was also venerated by local Muslims, with some even kissing the wall of the old synagogue for good luck. The community brought the scroll to Israel and it currently resides in a synagogue in Ashkelon, still receiving pilgrims at its annual hiloula.

Decay: Once the Jewish community left, the cemetery was largely abandoned. Tombs faded and crumbled from the wind, rain, and sun. Local Berber women would smash gravestones as part of a superstitious fertility ritual. The tombs risked disintegrating completely and being absorbed into anonymity by the rocky surroundings.

Charly Bouskila: In the nick of time, a son of Taznakht returned to rescue his patrimony. Charly’s grandfather, Rabbi Shimon Bouskila, was the butcher and mohel (circumciser) for the region. His father Yaakov, after leaving Taznakht, worked as a religious scholar in Casablanca and transformed his home into a house of study. In 2005, Charly visited Taznakht and was shocked to discover the Jewish cemetery lying in ruins due to serious acts of vandalism. Inspired by his father’s long-time vision to preserve the cemetery, Charly resolved to take on the challenge.

Restoration: On June 2, 2008, Charly Bouskila hosted a large crowd for the rededication of the cemetery. The elderly Rabbi David Bouskila, a native of the town, was in attendance along with the rabbi of Marrakesh and the governor of Ouarzazate. Participants at the celebration found a cemetery transformed. Replacing the cracked tombstones and crumbling structures were symmetrical white-washed tombs, with gravestones re-assembled and a high wall enclosing them. Bouskila also built a synagogue hall and a guest-house, which includes a full bathroom and basic kitchen. Over the tomb of his grandfather Shimon, he constructed a small concrete canopy. A website, called “Zehout Avot,” meaning merit of the fathers, documents the remarkable construction and re-construction effort.

Visiting: With a guardian on the premises 24 hours a day, visitors are welcome to the cemetery. Bouskila even encourages visitors to take advantage of the bathrooms and kitchen for extended stays. He is in the process of collecting as much information as he can from relatives of those buried in the cemetery. “What a mitvzah [good deed] it is to honor the memory of our fathers!” he observes. Some visitors question whether the cemetery’s transformation is fully appropriate, as the site looks more modern than an authentic restoration of the past. Others marvel at the beautiful complex and the amenities that make it possible for pilgrims coming from afar to enjoy the site. In any case, Charly Bouskila has helped create a unique Jewish heritage site in southern Morocco one that now has the potential to endure more than 600 years into the future.

Cemetery at Taznakht, Morocco

Taznakht, Morocco

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Sources

Yossef Chetrit. "Tazenakht." Encyclopedia of Jews in the Islamic World. Executive Editor Norman A. Stillman. Brill Online, 2014. Reference. Wellesley College. 11 July 2014 <http://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopedia-of-jews-in-the-islamic-world/tazenakht-SIM_0021090>.