Morocco: The Tzaddikim Route, the short one
When to go
March to May and September to November. The great dates are the hillulot: Lag BaOmer (18 Iyar, usually May) at the tomb of Rabbi Amram ben Diwan in Asjen and at Anraz, and 26 Elul (September) at the tomb of Rabbi Haim Pinto in Essaouira. On those days thousands come, the roads near the graves are closed and rooms are booked months ahead; on any other day the graves are quiet. July and August are hot inland.
The stops
Interactive map of the route on our site ›
- Casablancaone night
Back in the city of the community: the evening is the time to eat kosher and, if the night is Friday, to find a minyan.
- Museum of Moroccan Judaismstop on the way
Opened in 1997, and for many years the only Jewish museum in the Arab world: Torah scrolls, hanukkiot, wedding dresses and the rooms of a synagogue brought from the villages. It is closed on Shabbat and on Jewish holidays.
- Azemmourstop on the way
In the old mellah of this walled town on the Oum Er-Rbia, held by the Portuguese from 1513 to 1541, is the mausoleum of Rabbi Abraham Moul Niss, revered by Jews and Muslims alike; his hillula is on Lag BaOmer. The tomb could not be placed exactly, so the point is the town.
- El Jadidaone night
The Portuguese built Mazagan here in 1514 and held it until 1769; its walled town has been a World Heritage site since 2004. In the vaulted cistern under it Orson Welles filmed scenes of his Othello; it has been closed for restoration, so check before going.
- Oualidiastop on the way
A calm lagoon behind a line of rocks, named after the Saadian sultan al-Walid, who built a kasbah over it in the 1630s. Morocco’s first oyster farm opened here in 1957, and the oysters are eaten on the shore.
- Beddouzastop on the way
The cape the old charts called Cap Cantin, some thirty-five kilometres north of Safi, with a lighthouse over the cliffs and the coast road running along their edge.
- Safione night
The pottery town of Morocco, with its kilns on the hill above the medina and the Portuguese sea fortress on the shore. Its Jews revered the Ouled Ben Zmirro, the seven saints of the city.
- Ouled Ben Zmirrostop on the way
By tradition Rabbi Abraham ben Zmirro came to Safi after the expulsion from Spain and lies here with his brothers and sons. The hillula is held in summer, and women come above all to pray for children and for a match.
- Souira Qdimastop on the way
A beach village at the mouth of the Tensift, once Aguz, a Portuguese outpost of the early sixteenth century. The river mouth was known for its shad fishing.
- Kasbah Hamidouchstop on the way
The ruined walls of a great fortress on the left bank of the Tensift, near its mouth, attributed to the sultan Moulay Ismail.
- Essaouira2 nights
In the Jewish cemetery by Bab Doukkala lies Rabbi Haim Pinto, the rabbi of Mogador, who died on 26 Elul 1845; every year on that date thousands come for his hillula. His house and synagogue still stand in the mellah, and in 2020 the king opened Bayt Dakira, the house of memory of the town’s Jews.
- Ounaghastop on the way
The heart of argan country. The argan tree grows wild almost nowhere but south-western Morocco, and along this road the women’s cooperatives crack the nuts by hand for oil.
- Marrakesh3 nights
The Miara, the Jewish cemetery beside the mellah, is one of the largest in Morocco; along its walls stand the mausoleums of rabbis, among them Rabbi Pinhas HaCohen, who died in 1952 and whose grave still draws pilgrims. In the mellah the Lazama synagogue still opens to visitors.
- Aghbaloustop on the way
In the Ourika valley lies Rabbi Shlomo ben Lahans, by tradition an emissary from the Land of Israel who stayed in Morocco; the Muslims of the valley call him Moul Asguine and visit him too. The tomb could not be placed exactly, so the point is the village.
- Anrazstop on the way
In the hamlet of Anraz near Ouirgane, in a gated compound under the mountains, lies Rabbi Haim ben Diwan, the son of Rabbi Amram of Asjen; pilgrims come at Lag BaOmer. The compound holds three tombs, and the point is the hamlet.
What it costs
Eighty dollars a night is the room. The car, the fuel and the motorway tolls are yours, and so are the entry tickets and what you give at the graves: the guardian who opens the gate, the candles and the charity box. Kosher food is easy in Casablanca; elsewhere arrange it ahead or carry it.
What to know
Four things. One: the graves. Dress modestly, cover your head, and many graves are locked behind a gate whose key is held by a guardian, often from a family that has kept it for generations; ask your hotel or the local Jewish community to call ahead. Two: Shabbat. Plan the days so that Shabbat falls at a two-night stop, best Essaouira or Marrakesh, or shift a day so it falls in Casablanca, where the community is largest; keep Friday for a short drive. Three: security. Morocco guards its Jewish sites, police stand at the big hillulot, and a calm, discreet manner is all that is asked; for Israeli passport holders the entry rules and the travel advisory change, so check them before booking. Four: the driving. Police checkpoints at the entrance to almost every town with radar and on-the-spot fines, so carry cash, passport, the rental contract and an international permit; never drive after dark outside the cities, when carts and donkeys without lights share the road.
Roads, tolls and rules
The short version: nine days instead of sixteen, from Casablanca down the coast to Marrakesh. Morocco drives on the right. The motorways from Casablanca to Rabat and on to Meknes and Fes, and south to El Jadida, are modern and tolled; the coast road from El Jadida to Essaouira is a narrow two-lane road through villages. Speed limits are 120 on motorways, 100 on main roads and 60 in towns, and they are enforced. The roads to Ourika and to Anraz climb into the High Atlas, narrow and winding, and the last stretch to Anraz is a dirt track. No car enters the old medinas: park outside the walls.
Travel Morocco: The Tzaddikim Route, the short one
The route on our site, with a room up to $80 every night.