Out of Exhibition – Moses Montefiore’s 100th Birthday Medallion and a Letter he Wrote to Abraham Corcos

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The story of the Corcos family is a glorious chapter in the history of Spanish Jews expelled from the Iberian Peninsula in 1492.
After the Expulsion, my forefathers arrived at Fez in Morocco and were engaged in commerce. Many traders were also scholars, rabbis and spiritual leaders who served their communities for generations. Over time, my family expanded and settled throughout Morocco, including Mogador.
Mogador used to be a vibrant Jewish port city from which many renowned merchants came, such as the Cabessa and Elmalech families, as well as great rabbis like Rabbi Haim Pinto and Rabbi Abraham Benatar, and even artists such as sculptor and poet David Elkayam, “the Da Vinci from Moagdor.” Since the majority of merchants in the city were Jewish, Shabbat was the port’s day off. The elders in Mogador recall that after Shabbat morning prayer, they used to walk from the Mellah (the Jewish quarter) to the beach and spend the day by the seaside.
In the 18th century, Sultan Mohammed Ben Abdellah invited ten dignified Jewish families, among them the Corcos family, to Mogador in order to develop the city’s trade. These families were known as “Tujar AlSultan” – the Sultan’s traders.
The letter displayed here was sent by the great philanthropist Moses Montefiore to his close friend, and one of my forefathers, Abraham Corcos, head of the Jewish community in Mogador in the mid-19th century. In the letter, Montefiore asks for confirmation that his donation of 60 Pounds Sterling was received and given to poor Yeshiva students. In addition, Montefiore thanks Abraham Corcos for the selected etrogim (Sukkot ritual objects) he had sent him.
Sydney Corcos is a descendent of a distinguished family of Mogador, Morocco, founder of The Moroccan Jewry Museum in Mogador, aimed at the commemoration of the glorious history of the Jews in Morocco in general, and of the Corcos family in particular.