RABBI HAIM PINTO HAKATAN 1865 ESSOUIRA -1937 CASABLANCA GRANDSON OF THE RABBI HAIM PINTO OF MOGADOR

 

For people interested in Moroccan Jewry, the name Haim Pinto would ring a bell.. the revered Rabbi Haim Pinto lived in Essouira and is buried there. His grandson was also called Haim Pinto and he was a pious and well known Rabbi in Casablanca. In the mellah of the old part of town, once teeming with jews now scarcely any, a friendly gentleman guided us past place de Belgique to a small street, formerly known as Rue du Commandant Provost. As we neared the house I could hear Hassidic chants coming in from a house nearby and was good to feel the presence of the piety of Rabbi Haim Pinto in his house. 

Casablanca at one time had one of the largest jewish communities in the Arab world. The cemetery is not well kempt unlike the one in Marrakech.  where are the Soussas and Abitbols and thousands of others in Israel Canada USA and France and elsewhere ..  your ancestors lie here ..

It was a privilege to say Kaddish at the tomb of Rabbi Haim Pinto Hakatan and I plan to visit the tomb of the Rabbi Haim Hagadol in Essouira before the summer heat sets in 

I was listening to the jewish steps of yesterday in the abandoned Mellah 

Casablanca Jewish Cemetery

A MOST PLEASANT 14 FEBRUARY. DIA DE LA AMISTAD AS WE SAY IN CUBA. A DAY OF FRIENDSHIP

 Today has turned out to be a very pleasant day.. I do not pay much attention to the Valentine's Day hype in the West but in Cuba this day is taken quite seriously since the emphasis is on Friendship. There is refrain in Cuba. Novios pasan, amigos por siempre. Lovers come and go but Friends are forever.

The importance of Friendship or Relationship as American Indians would call it was driven home during the Covid 19 imposed isolation and it has not ended or caught up with the pre pandemic levels.

Studies after studies point out the importance of Friendship in the Mental health of the society studied. Also it affords longer happier lifes.

In the many societies I have lived or visited frequently, I have enjoyed the Friendliness of 

Australia 

The South Pacific Islands 

Latin America 

and in Black Africa, Ghana, Zanzibar, Zimbabwe stand out .. 

These are my personal experiences .. 

But if you ask me which is the friendliest country you know 

the answer is very simple 

It is CUBA 

it is also possibly the reason that I prefer to spend my leisure time there than in the USA ...

The recent discovery of Morocco has added lustre to my life. Once you meet Moroccan Friendliness, you begin to question the friendliness of the Rich and more developed countries .

So on this day of Friendship I would thank all my friends who have contributed to this euphoric feeling and a lovely spent ..

The greetings began arriving as soon as I woke up and lifted my phone 

The first one was from Linz, Austria

The most were from Cuba 

So I thank my friends 

from Boynton Beach in Florida 

Austria. Bauru in Brasil, My dear friends in Iran... Mexico 

Tenerife, strangely none came from Morocco! China Thailand 

thanks to all of you ..

Saint Martin, French West Indies 

This came from Cuba

A friend sent this from Jew Town, Cochin 

My Ticuna from the Colombian Amazon sent this 

In Puerto Vallarta Mexico, it seems the homeless are fed well !

the sunsets there are not too bad either..

Mountain range in the Eastern Colombia 

Two Suns of Klagensfort..

A nice gift to young doctor 

A homeless person in Kendall Miami 

Lunch at the Wellness Centre

The sun is setting in Miami 

    To me this was a memorable day. I truly felt a sense of friendship with many of the people I interacted with today .

Thank you Dahnke Muchas Gracias ZheZhe Muito Obrigado Merci Beaucoup 

REMNANTS OF THE JEWISH MELLAH OF AZEMOUR , MAROC/MARRUECOS/MOROCCO

AZEMMOUR, city on the Atlantic coast of Morocco. In the 15^th century Azemmour was a free city with 20,000 inhabitants, of whom 2,500 were Jews, mainly occupied as fishermen and craftsmen, and including wealthy merchants. Exiles from Portugal in 1496 found refuge there. It was subsequently raided by the Spanish, but the Jews were afforded protection by the Portuguese, who occupied Azemmour in 1513 without bloodshed. A grant of privileges was conferred on the Jews on June 14, 1514, which also fixed their annual tax payment. Joseph Adibe was appointed rabbi of Azemmour and invested with wide powers (c. 1512). The community flourished and prominent members included the families of Adibe, *Roti, Valensi, Buros, Rodrigues, and Cordilha. Numerous *Marranos were welcomed in Azemmour and enabled to go to the interior where they could return to the Jewish faith. The community supported financially and diplomatically the pretensions of David Ha-*Reuveni when he arrived in Portugal in 1525. Azemmour was captured by the Moors in 1541; during the siege John III ordered the evacuation of all Jewish non-combatants to Arzila, and compensated them for the losses they had incurred. A community was reestablished in 1780. Most of the more wealthy members immigrated to Mazagan c. 1820, after the sultan ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Hishām permitted Jews to trade there. Only the Jewish craftsmen remained in Azemmour, which continued to have a Jewish population until the emigration from Morocco after 1948. In 1968 there were no Jewish inhabitants in the town. 

I arrived here in February 2023, fifty plus years after the last jews, who had lived here for millennia, had left.

While visiting the dilapidated cemetery, I was shown the last of the tombs, from 1964..

I went in search of the Mellah inside the old city where Jews lived.

Looking at the sign. Impasse de la Synagogue showing the entrance to the alleyway where a synagogue must have stood, I felt so much emotions. Who walked here on friday nights and saturday mornings? 500 years ago ? what melodies ? were they the same that I learned in Australia? perhaps the words may have been the same but not the tune .. as Moroccan jews sing their prayers to beautiful tunes ..

Most of the homes where Jews lived are in ruins now.

I am so glad that Israel and Morocco has established diplomatic relations and that we can expect more and more descendants of Moroccan Jews ( estimated to be 1.8 million worldwide but mostly in Israel) would travel to enjoy the same emotional happiness visiting these sites.

I thought of all people connected to me through love and affection, starting with the petite poete de côte sauvage, my family in Israel, Miami and Portland, Oregon. I feel like a baloon (a bad metaphor at this time of chinese spy baloons) being tethered by. affections in various parts of the world  Iran principally, Cochin in India , Mexico and of course that dear island that is not too far from here ..and my friends every where and elsewhere ..

Thank you for your thoughts ..

I also feel connected to the history of the jewish people . I feel the burden of keeping the history of Jewish people from remote parts of the world ..Rangoon in Burma, Cochin in India , Penang in Malaysia .. Djerba .. and now in Casablanca, Marrakech, Azemour ..

After writing I decided, I would visit more places of Jewish Interest in Morocco ..

Ishmael at Riad 58 blue in Marrakech! Get my room ready

ESTABANICO OF AZEMOUR MOROCCO AND THE INDIANS OF THE WEST COAST OF FLORIDA.. A FULL CIRCLE

 I have been very fortunate to be associated with the Native peoples of the USA which is often referred to as Turtle Island. During my conversations with knowledgeable elders, they mentioned of their frequent interactions with the Indians of Cuba long before the Europeans "discovered them,  where they would travel on their canoes. On one such journey they saw strange looking people (the spaniards) and knew that soon they would come to their land, which happened not so soon afterwards . Indians were ready and did dispel the conquistadores/invaders (who came from Spain via Cuba). On this particular expedition under a bungling captain Narvaez, the expedition was an utter disaster.

  Alvar Nuñez Cabeza de la Vaca who was the second in command was sent away to pursue the lands to the west. Of this group who trudged along the coast of Florida and the southern regions and Texas, only four survived which included Cabeza de la Vaca, Dorantes and Castillo , three spanish conquistadores and an african slave, Estabanico, born Mustapha al Azmouri in the important atlantic port of Azzamour in the Moroccan coast.

He was born around 1500 CE and died around 1539 at the hands of Zuni Indians. 

A statue by the late sculptor John Hauser will be displayed in El Paso and also in the Tampa Bay area. The model for the above sculpture was a Berber from the Saharan region of Morocco. There seems to be little doubt that Estebanico was Black African and not a Berber (usually referred as Morros by the spaniards).

`Now it was time to visit Azemour.. in Morocco

A city with a long history, Azama (to the Phoenicians and at the time of Punic wars, a berber word meaning black olives) had been connected to the outside world. The indigenous people were the Berbers who were animists and christian and  included some Berber jews. Islam brought invaders/outsiders from the East and their language and religion.

a mural honouring Estebanico in Azzemour.

A short ride from Casablanca on a wide motorway brings you to the small village 

The fort is visible and imposing. The fort of Azamor (Azemmour) was under Portuguese control between 3 September 1513 and October 1541.

The fort of Safim (Safi) called by the Portuguese as Castelo do Mar or Castelejo was founded by the Portuguese as a  feitoria in 1488. In 1508 the Portuguese built a fortress. The fortress was abandoned by the Portuguese on October 1541.

Once you enter, there is only pedestrian traffic and the magnificence of the yesteryear strikes you .. 

this street used to be in the heart of the jewish area of Azemmour. Most jews have migrated to Israel France and other places and now their history is but a memory.

This is the city where Estebanico was born around 1500 CE. There were jews living here at that time.

He left to go to Florida and here I am, a friend of the original people of florida to pay homage to him.

500 years later life has come a full circle ..