The Beit Yehuda Synagogue, also known as Assayag Synagogue, is a cultural landmark and museum in Tangier, Morocco.
![](http://178.128.105.246/host-http-upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ab/Baedeker%27s_Spain_and_Portugal-_Tangier_%281901%29.jpg/220px-Baedeker%27s_Spain_and_Portugal-_Tangier_%281901%29.jpg)
Overview
editUnlike other Moroccan cities, Tangier had no walled Jewish quarter or mellah.[1]: 93 Even so, its synagogues were clustered in a neighborhood on the southwestern side of the medina,[2] known as Beni Idder for the family that initiated its development.[1]: 92
The Beit Yehuda Synagogue was founded in 1890 slightly north of Beni Idder on the other side of rue Es-Siaghine. It remained in service until the late 1950s. It was then abandoned for about six decades.[3]
The former synagogue's revival as a museum was one of the cultural initiatives launched by the Moroccan government in the wake of the Israel–Morocco normalization agreement of December 2020.[4] The renovation was led by architect Malika Laâroussi, and the creation of the museum by museographer Isabelle Timsit.[5] The museum was inaugurated on 19 August 2022.[6]
See also
editNotes
edit- ^ a b Mónica López Soler (2013), Les couleurs de la memoire : Routes d´architecture pour voyageurs émotifs, City of Málaga
- ^ Jordi Mas Garriga. "Map of Synagogues of Tangier". Discovering Tangier.
- ^ "Jewish Memory Museum inaugurated in Tangier". The North Africa Post. 20 August 2022.
- ^ "Jewish History Museum Inaugurated in Moroccan Port Town". The Algemeiner. 22 August 2022.
- ^ "Assayag synagogue to house Jewish Museum of Tangier". European Jewish Congress. 21 June 2021.
- ^ Safaa Kasraoui (21 August 2022). "Morocco Inaugurates Museum Dedicated to Jewish History in Tangier". Morocco World News.