As in the two past years, members of Em Habanim Sephardic Congregation of Los Angeles celebrated Morocco Week, which falls on November 19, a date declared in 2019 by the Los Angeles City Council as "Moroccan Heritage Day."

In partnership with the embassy of Morocco in the United States and Royal Air Maroc, members of the Moroccan diaspora, Jewish and Muslim alike, experienced a rich cultural program that showcased the lasting ties of Moroccans of the world to their homeland.

The week was marked by the launch by the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) of the Moroccan Jewish Studies Initiative. This unique program, initiated through the efforts of Moroccan anthropologist Aomar Boum, a specialist in Jewish culture, aims to highlight Moroccan Jewish culture, safeguarded by the 100,000 Jews of Moroccan origin living in the United States.

The event was also marked by a show given by an orchestra bringing together two emblematic figures of Moroccan and Hebrew song, namely Moroccan Abderrahim Souiri and Israeli Moshe Louk. This duo, in perfect harmony, performed a variety of songs in Arabic and Hebrew.

Speaking on this occasion, Rabbi Joshua Bittan prayed the Almighty to preserve HM King Mohammed VI, Commander of the Faithful, and to grant to the Sovereign, and to the entire illustrious Royal Family, good health, happiness and long life.

In a statement to MAP, the rabbi underlined the role of HM the King as defender of the values ​​of tolerance and harmony, while paying tribute to the solicitude with which the Sovereign surrounds the members of the Moroccan Jewish community and His efforts to preserve the Moroccan Jewish heritage.