Elkhorbat Village

En route to Todra Gorge we stopped in Elkhorbat to visit an old fortified village where Jewish and Muslim lived side by side in respect and harmony. About 6000 people still live here. The village is fortified by homes instead of city walls. It was very clean and the government has helped to install electricity and running water to help modernize it. We enjoyed visiting the adjacent museum and had a very delicious restaurant just outside the village. Jews have been in Morocco since about 70AD, with a very large number coming in 1492 when they were expulsed from Spain and Portugal. When Hitler took control of France, he demanded that the King of Morocco hand over the names and location of all Moroccan Jews (at that time France governed over Morocco). The King refused and saved the lives of countless Jewish people. Since the creation of modern Israel, most Jews from Morocco have immegrated there for a better life. Moroccan Jews constitute the second largest number of immigrants in Israel, with Russian Jews being the greatest number. They have influenced the language, culture and art of this region for centuries.Read more