Museum Curator
Since 2002,
Zhor Rehihil has been curator of the Moroccan Judaism Museum. She is the only Muslim woman to take care of
such an entity and the first Muslim expert of the "Moroccan Judaica". Alumnus of the National Institute of Archeology
and Heritage Sciences, Zhor is graduated in anthropology. She also earned a degree in specialized studies
at the Higher Institute of Journalism in Rabat, in the audiovisual journalism
section, before joining the Ministry of Culture. Passionate about Judaism and everything that is
related to it, she resolutely chose for her two end-of-studies dissertations some
related subjects: "The hilloulah of Ben-Ahmed" and "The cult of
the Jewish Saints of Casablanca ". One meeting decided the course of her life: that
with Simon Lévy, then professor at the School of Arts and Humanities in Rabat. It is Simon levy who proposed to her to be part
of the team of the museum right upon its opening in 1997, first as project
manager within the Foundation of the Jewish-Moroccan Cultural Heritage and then
as a curator. "Simon Lévy was my
mentor. He was the
one who opened my eyes to the history of Morocco and to its Jewish component”, explains
Zhor Rehihil, who is proud of the museum but also proud of Morocco, the only
Arab country to restore Jewish synagogues and cemeteries as well as the only
Arab country to have an important Jewish community, which is a testimony to the
pluralistic identity of the country.