Roberta Greene stands at the aron kodesh in Casablanca synagogue.
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* “We had started to gain an appreciation for the tolerant, ‘live and let live’ relationship of the peoples of Morocco… Even today, a chief advisor to the present King is Jewish. Remarkable when you think of the current Arab world.” *
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Norman Greene, freelance writer, San Diego
Norman Greene
San Diego Jewish World
June 29, 2014
CASABLANCA, Morocco — Dressed in her head-to-toe hajab or jalaba, she reminded me of an Arabic version of San Diego’s late travel maven Gert Thaler as she skillfully guided us on our quest around the old Jewish Quarter in Casablanca. She was effusive, charming, funny and full of energy. We had outlined three things we wanted to accomplish during our half-day tour. A weekend before our May departure for Morocco, my wife and I accompanied our daughter and son-in-law on a tour of a new house under construction in Alvarado Estates. Friends of my daughter’s for many years, Eric and Peggy Sands’ home is being built on Yerba Santa Drive. During our extensive walk-though, the subject of our trip to Morocco came up and we were surprised to learn that Eric’s grandfather had been born and raised in Casablanca.
Eric asked for a personal favor. Could we please find the house where his grandfather, Simon Pinto, once lived and take a few photos of it? Well, that gave us the start of a little mission in this very modern, French city…one that lacks the charm and character of the rest of amazing Morocco. We also had read about a Jewish Museum in Casablanca that we wanted to investigate. So that was a second goal of our planned visit. Our final activity there was an attempt to meet Jean-Daniel Vitalis a French Moroccan childhood friend of Carmel Valley resident Joanne Laverson, a friend of a friend. My wife likes these challenges. Other than the incredible Hasan II Mosque and the touristy, but charming, “Rick’s Café” of Ingrid Bergman and Humphrey Bogart movie fame, there really isn’t much to see in all of Casablanca. So our three goals gave us a purpose for being there.
It took a bit of sleuthing on our guide’s part since the address Eric gave us was on a street that had been renamed a number of years ago. But she was up to the task and along with our extremely capable driver, Abdou Tabib Abdenabi, our guide found the new address opposite a closed synagogue on the renamed street. We took our pictures for Eric. Then our guide suggested we might like to visit an operating synagogue on the same street, a block away on the other side of a main boulevard. That was some initiative on her part and the next thing we knew, we were walking into the walled courtyard of the well maintained building. There are about 150 Jews living in Casablanca today and, as we were told, this is one of the few Casablanca congregations still functioning in this liberal Islamic country. As we looked around the well-worn building and its charming courtyard, my eye was drawn to a Wall of Honor. There in bold letters was Erik’s grandfather’s name on a marble plaque. The name literally jumped off the wall as I was walking by. Another photo opportunity. Mission 1 accomplished and we had started to gain an appreciation for the tolerant, “live and let live” relationship of the peoples of Morocco.
[Continued Reading at San Diego Jewish World…]
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Guide and caretaker pose with Roberta Greene at Casablanca’s Jewish Museum
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