Archaeologists discovered the tombs of three renowned rabbis from the 17th and 18th centuries at Morocco’s largest and oldest Jewish cemetery in Tetouane–the “Cementerio de Castilla”–reported the Jewish News Syndicate (JNS).
The tombs of rabbis Jacob Ben Malca, Hasday Almosnino, and Jacob Marrache were identified. “These were certainly esteemed men,” said Jacob Marrache, chair of the London-based Sephardic genealogical group Adafina, reported JNS.
The search for the 500-year-old cemetery has been reignited as a result of new information about the location of these burials at a UNESCO World Heritage site.
In 1734, Ben Malca–a distinguished scholar and respected religious judge (dayan)–moved to Tétouan from Fez to ascend to the helm of the religious court.
Almosnino, a famous judge of Talmudic law born in Tetouan in 1640 and subsequently residing in Gibraltar, authored various literary works of significance, according to Marrache.
Head of the Tetouan Jewish community Alberto Hayon told JNS that his family refers to Tetouan as “Pequea Jerusalem” (Little Jerusalem) because of its past prominence as a hub of Sephardic life.
Many of the tombstones uncovered at the discovery site–including those of rabbis–bear Jewish symbols such as Stars of David or Trees of Life.
According to Marrache, the Magen David (Star of David)–which only became an important Jewish icon during the Habsburg Empire–did not hold the same significance as the contemporary six-pointed star.
It is said that the community prays at the tombs of the three rabbis on the eves of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.