The earthquake that occurred the last Shabbat in central Morocco exacted a high price in lives. It left behind thousands of dead, wounded and homeless.
At the time of the earthquake, Rabbi Yoshiyahu Pinto was in his home in the city of Rabat and also felt the powerful earthquake. On Saturday evening, Rabbi Pinto addressed his students who live all over the world and asked them to help Morocco as much as possible.
In his talk yesterday, Rabbi Pinto spoke about what it was like to experience the earthquake in the middle of his Shabbat meal with his students. He also praised the King of Morocco, Mohammed VI, and the entire royal family. He declared that, "Every Jew in the world is now obliged to help Morocco."
Rabbi Pinto related: "We felt the earthquake last Shabbat in Rabat. The earth was moving and we knew it was a earthquake. Many, many people died and great destruction happened in this place. It was terrible and not expected."
"If we look back over the last thousand years," he added, "who was the nation that treated the Jews the best? Morocco. In other places there were expulsions, an Inquisition, the Holocaust. There were extremely difficult things. But which nation was good to the Jews? The Moroccan people."
Referring to the Moroccan king, Rabbi Pinto said: "King Mohammed VI is a noble-minded person. His father and all the lineage of the royal family were good to the Jews. In Morocco, the Jews were comfortable and well off, which was not the case anywhere else. All the greatest Torah leaders passed through and lived in Morocco, because Jews were treated well."
Rabbi Pinto added, "Now that the Moroccan people are in trouble due to the earthquake, it is absolutely the duty of each and every one of the Shuva Israel and the general community - all the Jews in the world - to assist and help the Moroccan people. Help with donations and money and anything that will return the situation to good."
This article was written in cooperation with Shuva Israel