Green Shoots
Condé Nast Traveller India|February - April 2023
ON A TRIP TO MOROCCO'S ANTI-ATLAS MOUNTAINS TO TRACE HIS JEWISH HERITAGE, SAKI KNAFO UNTANGLES DETAILS OF THE PAST AND PLANTS NEW SEEDS FOR THE FUTURE
Green Shoots

ONE OF THE FIRST STORIES

I remember is the one my father used to tell me about our family's origins. On our couch in Brooklyn, my dad explained that it began with my "great-great-great-great" grandfather, who lived in the Anti-Atlas mountains of southern Morocco. One day, all of the Jewish men in the village were ordered to convert (in my father's strange phrase) "on the pain of death". They refused. Fifty of them were burned alive in a bonfire. Our forefather, Maklouf, and his grown sons were among them, but his wife, whose name has been lost to time, fled the village with her baby boy. After weeks of trekking across the harsh terrain that stretched from the mountains down to the coast, she somehow reached the gates of her hometown, Essaouira, a walled port city at the crossroads of the great trading routes of the Atlantic and the Sahara.

In time, she recounted the saga to her son, Moshe, who grew up to become a scribe remembered for his beautiful handwriting. He, in turn, told it to his son, Yosef, a rabbinical scholar known for both his height and his humility; and Yosef told it to his son, David, a rabbi admired for his fairness as an arbiter of disputes, and David told it to his son, Isaac, a painter, writer and raconteur who memorised the poems of Cyrano de Bergerac and Victor Hugo. Isaac told it to my father, Hai, a conceptual artist who drove a cab in New York before landing a job as a renderer of pointillist pen-and-ink portraits for The Wall Street Journal.

One morning last May, my wife and our one-year-old daughter went for a dip in the pool at our resort in the beach town of Agadir while I set off for the place where it all began. As a kid, I had never imagined that the village of Oufrane Atlas Saghir was a location you could actually visit. And yet, there I was, heading south on the road that leads into the rugged Anti-Atlas.

This story is from the February - April 2023 edition of Condé Nast Traveller India.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

This story is from the February - April 2023 edition of Condé Nast Traveller India.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

MORE STORIES FROM CONDÉ NAST TRAVELLER INDIAView All
Made In Nagaland
Condé Nast Traveller India

Made In Nagaland

From home textiles to jewellery, clothing, and more, here are the 10 Naga craft brands you need to know. By Sohini Dey

time-read
4 mins  |
November - December - January 2024 - 25
TOKYO RIGHT NOW
Condé Nast Traveller India

TOKYO RIGHT NOW

As impossible to pigeonhole as ever, the Japanese capital is buzzing with fresh influences and new ideas

time-read
10+ mins  |
November - December - January 2024 - 25
RAISING RAI: WHERE THE MAGIC HAPPENS
Condé Nast Traveller India

RAISING RAI: WHERE THE MAGIC HAPPENS

Raghu and Avani Rai on connecting via worlds seen through their lenses.

time-read
4 mins  |
November - December - January 2024 - 25
GILDED WATERS
Condé Nast Traveller India

GILDED WATERS

Paula Hardy boards one of the last remaining dahabiyas on the Nile for a different perspective of Egypt's storied river

time-read
3 mins  |
November - December - January 2024 - 25
THE GIRL WITH GRAND DESIGNS
Condé Nast Traveller India

THE GIRL WITH GRAND DESIGNS

Gauravi Kumari is part of Jaipur's new creative set that is bringing fresh perspectives to the city's design legacy.

time-read
6 mins  |
November - December - January 2024 - 25
A FACE FOR ADVENTURE
Condé Nast Traveller India

A FACE FOR ADVENTURE

Retooling the iconic Rolex GMT-Master II for fresh explorations.

time-read
1 min  |
November - December - January 2024 - 25
THE GRAND seduction
Condé Nast Traveller India

THE GRAND seduction

Palermo's chaos, swagger, and temperamental charm cast a hypnotic spell.

time-read
8 mins  |
November - December - January 2024 - 25
Rhythm Divine
Condé Nast Traveller India

Rhythm Divine

Wherever you go in Gwalior, the myth and magic of Tansen are inescapable, as Sam Dalrymple finds out.

time-read
8 mins  |
November - December - January 2024 - 25
IDEAL WORLD
Condé Nast Traveller India

IDEAL WORLD

Palestinian chef Fadi Kattan explains why he went ahead with the publication of Bethlehem, his celebratory cookbook.

time-read
6 mins  |
November - December - January 2024 - 25
NUJUMA, A RITZ-CARLTON RESERVE SAUDI ARABIA
Condé Nast Traveller India

NUJUMA, A RITZ-CARLTON RESERVE SAUDI ARABIA

On alittle-visited Red Sea archipelago, the Middle East’s first Ritz-Carlton Reserve reflects both untapped nature and hyperreal modernity, finds Noo Saro-Wiwa.

time-read
3 mins  |
November - December - January 2024 - 25