Museum of Moroccan Judaism, Casablanca

The building began in 1948 as the Home d’Enfants Murdoch Bengio, an orphanage founded by Célia Bengio with support from the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee. It housed up to 160 children. In 1966 it became a yeshiva. In 1994–95 the architect Aimé Kakon renovated it for its new purpose, and a “Bengio Home” sign in French and Arabic still stands in the entrance courtyard.

The museum opened in 1997 or 1998; sources differ. It was initiated by Serge Berdugo, Jacques and Boris Toledano and Simon Lévy, the scholar and activist who directed it until his death in 2011. Lévy wanted young Moroccan Muslims in particular to see the Jewish part of their national story. After a renovation the museum reopened in April 2013. His successor as director is Zhor Rehihil.

Morocco now has several newer Jewish heritage museums, among them the El Mellah Museum in Casablanca’s medina, Bayt Dakira in Essaouira, Beit Yehuda in Tangier and the Museum of Moroccan Jewish Culture in Fes.

The museum covers roughly 600–700 square metres, with a multipurpose hall for temporary exhibitions, several exhibition rooms and a library of documents, photographs and films. The exhibition rooms include reconstructions of Moroccan synagogue interiors.

Among the highlights is a bimah (tevah, the platform from which the Torah is read) of about 1944 from Casablanca’s Beni-Issakhar Synagogue. Ritual objects include Torah scrolls and Hanukkah lamps. Textiles and jewellery range from embroidered caftans to costumes and khmisa (hamsa) pendants in a collection on Jewish life in Morocco’s Amazigh (Berber) regions. A reconstructed workshop uses the workbench and tools of the silversmith Saul Cohen.

Look also for the “Hitler Megillah”, written by the Hebrew teacher Asher Hassin in the style of the Book of Esther about the persecution of North African Jews under Vichy and Nazi Germany, and an 1894 Book of Deuteronomy with a Judeo-Arabic translation. Paintings, photographs and sculpture show Jewish life across the country. In 2019 the singer David Serero donated a large part of his Moroccan Judaica collection. Signage is in English and French.

The museum is at 81 Rue Chasseur Jules Gros in the residential Oasis district, south of the city centre. Many taxi drivers do not know the street, so it is easiest with a driver or guide. The last published hours (2022) were 10:00–17:00 Monday to Friday and 11:00–15:00 on Sunday. A September 2026 report confirms it is closed on Saturdays and Jewish holidays and that Wednesdays are reserved for school groups, so avoid Wednesdays.

Groups of five or more should book ahead, and guided tours in English or French have been offered for a fee or donation. The admission price is not published in recent sources, so we confirm hours and fees before your visit.

We often start a Casablanca Jewish heritage day here, because the collection gives context for everything else: the Ettedgui Synagogue and House of Rabbi Haim Pinto in the medina, and Temple Beth-El in the city centre. Our Casablanca Jewish heritage guide and sample Jewish heritage tour show how it fits into a longer trip.