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Moroccan Jews in France and Canada provides an extensive exploration of the post-colonial migrations of Moroccan Jews to France and Canada. Yolande Cohen, herself a migrant, and her collaborators draw on vivid oral histories to uncover the emotional journeys of departure and exile. Why did Moroccan Jews leave? When and how did this migration unfold?
After the establishment of Israel and the Palestinian-Israeli wars, most Moroccan Jews migrated to Israel. Yet a significant more Westernized, minority settled in France and Canada, supported by transnational Jewish organizations.
In Montreal, a city with an important multi-ethnic Jewish community, speaking French became crucial for their integration. By tracing these journeys and analyzing the language of exile, Moroccan Jews in France and Canada reveals the deep traumas underlying this historic migration. A powerful and essential account shedding light on a little-known diaspora and its complex legacy.
The English and French version of this title, though distinct, complement each other to offer a more comprehensive look at the topic.
Yolande Cohen is Full Professor of Contemporary History at the Université du Québec à Montréal and Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. Knight of Quebec’s Ordre national and of France’s Légion d’honneur, she received an honorary doctorate from Université de Montréal and the 2024 ACFAS André-Laurendeau prize for humanities, arts and letters.
List of Figures
List of Tables
Acknowledgements
Introduction
Historiographical Framework
Scholarship on Moroccan Jews in Canada: Multidisciplinary, Multilingual, and Diasporic
Yolande Cohen and Stephanie Tara Schwartz
PART I: The Jews of Morocco and Their Departures
CHAPTER 1
From Synagogue to Mosque: My Grandfather’s House in the Old Mellah of Meknès
Yolande Cohen and Noureddine Harrami
CHAPTER 2
Zionism, Colonialism, and Post-Colonial Migrations: Moroccan Jews’ Memories of Displacement
Yolande Cohen
PART II: Between Paris and Montreal
CHAPTER 3
Marriage and Mobility of Moroccan Jews in Montreal and Paris
Yolande Cohen and Martin Messika
CHAPTER 4
Sephardi Jews in Montreal
Yolande Cohen
PART III: Memoirs of Migration in Canada
CHAPTER 5
Memories of Departures: Stories of Jews from Muslim Lands in Montreal
Yolande Cohen, Martin Messika, and Sara Cohen Fournier
CHAPTER 6
Forgetting and Forging: My Canadian Experience as a Moroccan Jew
Yolande Cohen
CHAPTER 7
A Piece of a Torah Scroll in My Basement
Yolande Cohen
Bibliography