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Avraham Toledano Synagogue, Tangier, Morocco
Rabbi Avraham Toledano Synagogue: The Rabbi Abraham Toledano Synagogue was built in the 19th century. It is named after Abraham Toledano, a leading member of the Tangier Jewish Community who helped the community establish its own legal independence from its neighboring Jewish villages.1 It is the oldest and smallest synagogue in the “synagogue cluster” located in the corner of the Tangier medina, the center of the city. Other synagogues in the area are the Rabbi Messoud Synagogue, the Rabbi Yahiya Syangogue, the Rabbi Akiva Laredo Synagogue, and the Rabbi Mordechai Bengio Synagogue.2 Sometimes referred to as the “Ha-Knesset ha-Gadolah” (The Great Synagogue), the building is decorated with lamps, silver ornaments, and beautiful woodwork.3 As there are barely any Jews left in Morocco today, the synagogue is no longer in use.
Description
Toledano Family: The name Toledano comes from the family’s original home: Toledo, Spain. After the expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492, the Toledano family made their way to North Africa, settling in Safed, Salonika, and Morocco.4 The family initially settled in Meknes, Morocco, in the 16th century and quickly began establishing connections with the local Sultan and building a merchant business. Some of the local Jews were angry at the extremely wealthy Toledano family due to its position as the community’s leader.5 The Toledano’s were not only merchants but also famous rabbis and scholars. Daniel (I) ben Joseph Toledano (ca. 1570–1640) established himself as the head of the Castilinian scholars in Fez, Morocco. His sons also became important leaders and rabbis. Hayyim ben Habib he-Hasid (d. ca. 1680) was a dayyan, a religious judge for a bet din (Jewish court), and head of the Meknes yeshiva, a Jewish university. In Tangier, Morocco, Aaron Toledano (1705 - 1785) was also a dayyan. His son, Abraham (1792 - 1833), set up Tangier’s first permanent bet din, which was an important step in recognizing the town’s independence from its surrounding Jewish communities. The Rabbi Abraham Toledano synagogue was named after him. In the 19th century many Toledano’s began writing scholarly works on religious texts, like Habib ben Eliezer (ca. 1800-1870), whose work was a response on critics of the Torah, and an analysis on the distinction between the philosophical and legal work of Maimonides.6 In the middle of the 20th century, with the establishment of the state of Israel, the family made Aliyah, the immigration of Jews to Israel, and left Morocco.7
Sources
[1] Shalom Bar-Asher, "Toledano Family (Moroccan Branch)," In Encyclopedia of Jews in the Islamic World, ed. Norman Stillman, Brill, 2010.
[2] Mohammad Gharipour, and Mattia Guidetti. Sacred Precincts: The Religious Architecture of Non-Muslim Communities across the Islamic World. Morgan State University, 2014: 115.
[3] Ibid., 117.
[4] "Toledano." Jewish Virtual Library. 2013. https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/judaica/ejud_0002_0020_0_19922.html.
[5] Bar-Asher. "Toledano Family (Moroccan Branch)."
[6] Ibid.
[7] Toledano, Yacov Tal. "The History of the Toledano Families." The Israel Genealogical Society. http://members.tripod.com/~Yacov_Tal/article.html.