August 5, 1999
CASABLANCA, Morocco -- No music played in the summer camp for Jewish children in Morocco on its opening day, and weddings planned last week by Jewish couples were postponed, as Jews here joined in mourning for the country's King Hassan II who died July 23, at age 70.
In the days since his death the King has been recognized for allowing Jewish life to thrive in this Muslim country, watching as generations of children attended Jewish schools and elder citizens received meals and services to meet their religious needs.
Throughout his reign, Chabad-Lubavitch emissaries, working together with the official community organization, Communaute Israelite, and the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, selflessly presided over much of the spiritual welfare of the Jewish citizens.
Moroccan Jewish tradition has it that King Hassan's father, King Mohammed V, before his passing instructed his son to be kind to his Jewish subjects. It was under King Mohammed that more than 70 Lubavitch schools, serving more than 5,000 children, flourished throughout Morocco before the mass migration of Jews started in 1956.
Morocco was actually the very first place to which the Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, of righteous memory, sent emissaries to bolster Jewish life. Immediately upon concluding the seven day mourning period for his father-in-law and predecessor, the Rebbe wrote a passionate letter to Rabbi Michael Lipsker, of blessed memory, appointing him emissary to Morocco and its almost 400,000 Jews, and beginning Chabad Lubavitch's legendary work in that country.
Rabbi Leibel Raskin, now the senior Chabad-Lubavitch emissary to Morocco, remembered King Hassan II fondly, and stated that he was a religious man who believed deeply in G-d. "The Rebbe knew this," Rabbi Raskin said.
"In 1990, Morocco's Ambassador to the United Nations visited the Rebbe in Crown Heights," Raskin related. "The Rebbe gave the Ambassador a dollar to give to King Hassan. He said the King would appreciate the American dollar because it says `In G-d We Trust.' I know the King received the dollar." [It was the Rebbe's custom on Sunday mornings to hand out crisp new dollar bills to his visitors as a symbolic stimulant toward increased charitable acts to others.]
"The King was very friendly and kindly disposed to Lubavitch and its work in this country and would express his admiration to others," Raskin continued, citing one example.
"We have a summer camp at a hotel on top of a mountain near Ifrane. Once the owner of the hotel, who is an excellent cook, was invited to prepare the King's meal to break the fast of Ramadan. After the meal, he was introduced to King Hassan. The King asked how things were going at the hotel and the owner told him there was a camp going on, run by Lubavitch. The King replied, `That's good. The Lubavitch rabbis are very important people. Make sure to take good care of them," Rabbi Raskin recalled.
Even after the Rebbe's schedule of private audiences was scaled back the Rebbe was always available to the leaders of Morocco's Jewish community who would consult with and report to the Rebbe among other things about their relationship with the King.
Many a journalist and foreign visitor reported with surprise the two pictures found hanging on the walls of Jewish homes throughout Morocco: The Rebbe and the King.
The Jewish community's reaction to the King's death was full of sadness, according to Raskin, but with confidence about the future.
"The new king, King Mohammed VI (son of King Hassan II) has Jewish friends," Rabbi Raskin explained, "and a close confidante of his brother is a student of Lubavitch teachings. I reminded everyone that we were in the Jewish month of Av. The letters in the name of the month stand for "emunah" - faith and "bitachon" - trust. I said we just have to have faith and trust in G-d, and pray. There was an atmosphere of shared sadness among everyone."
Jewish services offered prayers for the King, and Morocco's chief rabbi and the leader of the Jewish community here were invited to the funeral. Rabbi Raskin said that, according to Islamic law, no one is allowed to work for three days following the King's death, and Jewish citizens honored that principle. The popular Lubavitch summer camp postponed its opening by one day as well.
Morocco is currently observing a 40-day mourning period for King Hassan II, during which there can be no music or other festivities. Thus, when the summer camp opened finally on Tuesday, no music welcomed the children, and activities throughout the rest of the summer will be conducted without music. Two weddings scheduled for this week, and more planned over the next few weeks, have been postponed in observance of the mourning period as well.
"We are showing our respect to the King," Rabbi Raskin said.
As for the future, Rabbi Raskin said, "We are planning to carry on the work the Rebbe directed us to do for the Jewish community and for the community at large under the benevolence of the new king, King Mohammed VI."
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