Jewish Cemetery of Rabat

In 2021 David Toledano, president of the Jewish community of Rabat, described two Jewish cemeteries in the city: a very old one in the city centre, and a more modern one on the road to Casablanca, beside the Christian cemetery. This page is about the old one. Its oldest section lies in the Océan district, between the medina and the Atlantic.

The cemetery served a community that grew from about 5,000 Jews in Rabat and Salé together in 1881 to more than 15,000 in Rabat in 1947. Its historic quarter was the mellah laid out in 1806–1807 under Sultan Moulay Slimane, although by the 1940s many families lived outside it. Emigration in the second half of the 20th century left only a small community, which still looks after the site.

The Cemetery Discovery Project of JewishGen notes tombstones inscribed in Hebrew, French and Spanish. For families, the French and Spanish inscriptions can make names and dates easier to read than on older Hebrew-only stones.

The two saints’ tombs are the focus of most visits. Rabbi Eliezer Davila was born in Salé, served as chief rabbi of Rabat, Marrakech and Salé, and founded a yeshiva (a Torah academy) in Rabat. Rabbi Shalom Zaoui ran the synagogue in the mellah that still carries his name, and accounts collected by Yabiladi describe the sick sleeping beside his grave in hope of healing, Jews and Muslims alike.

Morocco launched a national programme to rehabilitate Jewish cemeteries in 2010. Speaking in 2021, the community president said that no tomb in Rabat had ever been destroyed or violated.

A hilloula is the annual celebration at a tzaddik’s grave (a tzaddik is a righteous person revered as a saint) on the anniversary of his death, with prayer, candles, song and a shared meal. Rabbi Eliezer Davila’s hilloula falls on 3 Adar. In February 2020 several hundred people, including pilgrims from abroad, gathered here for it, singing liturgical and Judeo-Moroccan songs and praying for rain during a drought year.

Rabbi Shalom Zaoui’s hilloula is given by Yabiladi as 29 Kislev, during Hanukkah. Dates move each year on the Gregorian calendar, so we confirm them with the community before you travel. See our guide to hilloula pilgrimages in Morocco.

If your family is from Rabat, bring every name, Hebrew name and approximate date you have. A caretaker or community member may be able to help locate a section or a stone, but we cannot promise that burial records survive for every grave. We ask the community in advance when we plan a roots day in Rabat.

No public opening hours have been published, so access should be confirmed and arranged through the Rabat-Salé Jewish community; we do this as part of planning. Dress modestly, walk on paths rather than over graves, and ask before photographing anyone at prayer. A tip for the caretaker is customary.