Hanukah BASH

lighting the candles

oil menorah

Last night I had a really incredible experience. I celebrated Hanukah with majority of the (very wealthy) Jewish community in Rabat. Jeremy and I were invited to the Toledano's house for a Hanukah party, not knowing what we were getting ourselves into (like most of the experiences I have had here in Morocco). We came over early to make latkes and then 50+ of their closest friends came over to celebrate the holiday. Apparently they have this fancy party every year and this year they were nice enough to invite us to come as well. I felt like I had entered a different world; I did not even know that many Jews existed in Rabat, let alone met more than a handful. There were servants, butlers, fancy "Jewish" Moroccan food, and there was even a bar! Everyone was so nice and friendly and happy that we were there. One thing I found fascinating was that very few of them actually spoke Arabic. Everyone there spoke French (the "elite" language) and some actually spoke English, but very few spoke Arabic. They were all educated either in France or in French schools here in Morocco and in their high class community, they had no use for Arabic in their everyday lives. We got a ride home with a woman and her family and struggled to communicate with our lack of French and her lack of Arabic. After singing Hanukah songs and lighting the candles we shmoozed and met different people, including the U.S. ambassador and his wife - who are both Jewish! The food was beyond delicious and it was a really special night to be part of something like this.

their house

latkes that we made for everyone!