Marrakesh hosted one of Morocco's oldest Jewish communities, dating back to the city's founding in 1062. Under the Saadian dynasty (16-17c.) the mellah grew into a center of Judeo-Arabic learning; R. Yaakov Berdugo and R. David Tzabbah taught here.
Marrakesh through the eras
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Acharonim
Marrakesh under the Saadian (1554-1659) and then Alaouite (from 1666) dynasties hosted one of the major Moroccan Jewish communities, organized around the Mellah established in 1557. The Berdugo, Pinto, and Maman rabbinic families produced generations of significant Moroccan poskim. The community engaged closely in trans-Saharan trade and Atlantic commerce; its Sephardic-Maghrebi minhag synthesized indigenous Berber-Jewish traditions with the Castilian-megorashim inheritance from the post-1492 refugees.
Modern Era
Marrakesh in the era of the French protectorate had a Jewish community of about 18,000 by 1947, organized through the Mellah and increasingly the new European-style city districts. Mass emigration after 1948-1956 reduced the community to perhaps 200 Jews today; the historic Lazama Synagogue and the Mellah Jewish cemetery remain active as heritage sites and pilgrimage destinations for the Moroccan-Jewish diaspora.