COVID-19 Outbreak Claims 13 Lives in Morocco’s Jewish Community After Wedding, Holiday Gatherings

These Jews, who died from covid-19, were infected after attending a wedding in the city of Agadir and celebrating the Purim holiday in Casablanca.

Among the deceased are three close associates of the leader of the Israeli Labor Party, Amir Peretz. They are the businessman Emil Peretz, his wife Simone and their son Ari. The famous Rabbi Sholom Eidelman, a long-time emissary of the Orthodox outreach movement "Chabad" in Casablanca, where he had founded a kollel (Jewish adult learning institution), was also swept away by the coronavirus.

On his Facebook page, Amir Peretz stated that members of the royal family as well as Moroccan government officials had expressed their condolences to him.