Toledano Synagogue and Museum (Slat Rabbi Baroukh), Meknes

Sources give two dates for the building: 1935, according to Medias24, or 1930, according to Le360. It had already been restored once, about twenty years before the latest work.

The recent restoration was initiated by the Council of Jewish Communities of Morocco, and Medias24 links it to the royal decision of 2013 to restore Jewish heritage sites across the country. The synagogue was reinaugurated on Wednesday 10 May 2023 with a prayer by Rabbi Moshe Sebbag, community representatives, local dignitaries and a large congregation. Berdugo, secretary general of the Council, described it as a place of worship and also of interreligious dialogue.

It should not be confused with the historic Rabbi Meir Toledano Synagogue, also in Meknes, which tradition traces to the 13th century and which was rebuilt by the Toledano family in 1646 after an earthquake.

Reports of the reopening describe stone walls cleaned and restored, coloured stained glass that fills the hall with light, and carved details and arabesques. The building is laid out on two floors: one for prayer and one, according to Medias24, given over to the museum.

The museum holds documents from the early 20th century: records of Jewish civil servants in Meknes, a list of Meknes Jewish families, and papers on the building of the New Mellah, the modern Jewish district added in Meknes under the French Protectorate. In 2026 Le360 reported that it also displays the ketubbah (marriage contract) of Rabbi Raphael Berdugo, and that Serge Berdugo had appealed to families from Meknes to donate objects to enlarge the collection.

Meknes had one of Morocco’s largest Jewish communities, 15,482 people in the 1947 census, and these papers are a rare record of it. Whether visitors can consult the family list in detail is not documented, so we ask in advance for travellers researching their roots.

No public opening hours or street address have been published. Visits are arranged through the Meknes Jewish community or a guide who knows the city’s Jewish sites, and we request access when we plan your trip. Expect modest dress and head covering for men in the prayer hall. Meknes is usually visited as a day from Fes; our Fes Jewish heritage guide covers both cities.

The restored Jewish cemetery of Meknes, with its Wall of the Elders listing the city’s sages, hosts a collective hilloula (pilgrimage celebration) of the city’s tzaddikim, its revered sages, each Lag BaOmer (18 Iyar, in spring); the fifth was held on the night of 4 May 2026. Also in Meknes are the old and new mellahs and the Rabbi Meir Toledano Synagogue, and the Roman site of Volubilis, with its Jewish inscriptions, is a short drive away.