in Caracas. Gibraltar: The Jewish community in Gibraltar originates from Tangiers and Tetouan. United States: In 1972 the Moroccan Jewish Organization (MJO) was founded. Founding Members created Moroccan Services & a Synagogue in Forest Hills, NY named Shaar Hashamayim Sephardic Synagogue. Members and Participants of MJO went on to create other Moroccan Synagogues and Batei Midrashot / Houses of [Torah] Study in Manhattan (Manhattan Sephardic Cong.), Brooklyn (Netivot Yisrael), Fort Lee, NJ, Cedarhurst (HaChaim veHaShalom) and Philadelphia, PA. Jewish Quarters in Morocco The Jewish quarters in Morocco were called mellahs. Jews in Morocco were considered ''dhimmis''' under Muslim law, meaning that they were a protected religious minority, that were distinguished from the Muslim majority, and were prevented from participating in certain activities. However, dhimmis such as Jews were tolerated, following the Pact of Umar in the 7th century, unlike the policy of intolerance that the Christians practiced with the Jews at that time in Europe. Sultans put Jews in the mellahs, as what most see as an attempt to ostracize the Jews, and keep them from being exposed to insurgents. The Jewish quarters in Moroccan cities were called Mellahs. The Sultans also wanted the Jews to be protected for political reasons. An attack on minorities was seen as an attack on the Sultan's power. The Sultan put the Jews in the Mellah for their safety, as well as to protect the Sultan rulings from being tested by insurgents. The word mellah is similar to the Hebrew word for salt, (מלח). The term mellah refers to the salty, marshy area where the Jews of Northern Morocco were originally transferred and gathered. The mellah was not a ghetto and was not structured in a way similar to Jewish quarters in Europe. By the 1900s, most Moroccan cities had a mellah. Culture Moroccan Jewry has developed as a hybrid of the many cultures that have shaped Morocco itself, namely Jewish, Arab, Berber, French and Spanish. Music Even before the arrival of Sephardi Jews to Morocco, Moroccan Jews performed and developed the traditions of the Andalusian classical music and introduced it into their Liturgical music. In his book "Jews of Andalusia and the Maghreb" on the musical traditions in Jewish societies of North Africa, Haim Zafrani writes: "In Spain and Morocco, Jews were ardent maintainers of Andalusian music and the zealous guardians of its old traditions ...." Cuisine One of the most famous dishes