There’s something to be said about a sunrise over a cemetery.  Let me be clear, this is no ordinary cemetery.  It’s one of the oldest Jewish cemeteries in Morocco, located in the Mellah (old Jewish quarter) of Fes.

Our Moroccan journey got us up before the sun to begin our trek from Casablanca to Fes. In fact, the sun didn’t rise until around 8:30 am. That’s because last year the Moroccan government stayed on daylight savings time permanently! What novel concept.

I was startled out of bed when my alarm went off at 7:00 am Moroccan time, completely oblivious to my surroundings - guess I was more jet lagged than I thought! Didn’t matter - we had an amazing itinerary planned for our second day in Casablanca, starting with a tour of the Hassan II Mosque.

Our first full day in Morocco was non-stop from the minute we landed in Casablanca - and this, after getting maybe 4 hours of sleep over the last 24 of travel. In situations like this, my motto is push on through - and that’s exactly what we did!

Yes, it’s been a minute since my last travel blog, and this trip is a big one. When I found out over a year ago that Rabbi Max Weiss at Oak Park Temple was planning a trip for our congregation to Morocco, I was filled with excitement! Of course I wanted to go…