Experience: Morocco

Kivunim's Morocco Summer Experience for Upper High School Teachers

A B O U T

A Model for Inter-Religious and Cross-Cultural Coexistence. The Fellowship for Teachers is now accepting applications for Summer 2025.

Applications Due: March 15, 2025
Travel Dates: June 22 - July 3, 2025

For the 4th consecutive summer, the Kivunim Institute—the preeminent sponsor of international educational study and travel programs for both teachers and students, with over 25 years of experience across the globe—has designed a unique fellowship for high school teachers to expand their historical and contemporary understanding of race and religion by an intensive study mission to Morocco.

High School educators are the front line of defense against growing racism, bigotry, and anti-Semitism. They encounter young minds filled with impressionistic childhood thinking about the divisive social issues of our times. The teacher can both inform and motivate towards more open and expansive views by providing the opportunity for exposure to more complex and nuanced views of history…IF they as teachers have accurate and sophisticated knowledge themselves.

In the realm of Jewish-Muslim history and inter-relationships, most of what is known, and therefore most of what is taught, is negative. The Kivunim Fellowship for High School Teachers will shake things up. It will challenge past assumptions. It will demonstrate a history ignored in the West.

D I S C O V E R M O R E

Program Details

Sample Itinerary

Reflections from Fellows

  • The Kivunim Fellowship for High School Teachers is presented in partnership with Association Mimouna—Morocco.

  • Financial support for this program is provided by the Gottesman Fund and the Riane Gruss Charitable Foundation.

CLICK HERE > to apply to the Fellowship for Teachers today! Applications due by March 15th.

Kivunim teachers program (summer 2023) with Honorable André Azoulay, senior advisor to King Mohammed VI at Beit Dakira, House of Memory, Essaouira, Morocco.

CLICK HERE >  to apply to the Fellowship for Teachers today. Applications due by March 15th.

Sample Itinerary

Sunday, June 22
Departure on Royal Air Maroc from NY’s JFK Airport.

Monday, June 23
Arrival Casablanca, check-in and quick shower to freshen up and then lunch at one of the Jewish clubs followed by a visit to the Museum of Moroccan Jewry, the Beth-El Synagogue, and a meeting with the leadership of Jewish community and Founders of the major co-existence organization, Association Mimouna, and its Founder, El Mehdi Boudra. Early dinner and then off to sleep.

Tuesday, June 24
Morning visit to visit to Hassan II Mosque, and then off to Rabat to the memorial to Kings
Mohammed V and Hassan II, Royal Palace, the charming Mellah, with lunch along the waterfront and then back to the Casablanca airport for our late-night flight to Errashadiya, the gateway to the Sahara.

Wednesday, June 25
Visit to the historic Synagogue of Errashadiya and then travel southward towards Erfoud and Merzouga and our very special experience of the Sahara based at Auberge Timbouktu. Afternoon of Gnawa music and experience with the Moroccan Bedouin. 

Thursday, June 26
Sunrise on the sand dunes of the Sahara rising 50 stories high. Then early departure to Telouet in the High Atlas Mountains. Evening in the village with Agwach dancing and signing.

Friday, June 27
Departure to Marrakech and afternoon visit to the Mellah, the historic Jewish Quarter of the city. Shabbat services at the 500+ year old Al-azama Synagogue and homemade Moroccan Shabbat dinner in the Synagogue courtyard.

Saturday, June 28
Shabbat Services for those who wish. Traditional home cooked kosher Shabbat lunch followed by visit to the Jardin Majorelle and walking tours of the city. Evening in J’ma del Fna, the world famous Marrakech square and cooking lesson of Moroccan specialties.

Sunday, June 29
Morning visit to the Medinah of Marrakech and departure for Taroudant and the village of Arazane and meeting with Harim.

Monday, June 30
Departure for Essaouria and later afternoon and evening in this magnificent city.

Tuesday, July 1
Departure for Fes via Marrakech.

Wednesday, July 2
Morning in Essaouira and then departure for Airport hotel in Casablanca.

Thursday, July 3
Morning flight back to New York.

P R O G R A M D E T A I L S

  • Acceptance to The KIVUNIM Fellowship for High School Teachers includes a $4,250 fellowship covering the cost of RT airfare between NYC and Morocco, all hotels, all meals, museum admissions, internal transportation, and preparatory and follow-up educational programs.

  • There is a $750 application fee required upon acceptance (Most schools provide the application fee for their educators from professional development funds. Inquire with your school administrator.).

  • The program will be led by Peter Geffen, Founder and President of The Kivunim Institute (and one of the most knowledgeable and well-traveled experts on Morocco) together with Kivunim faculty and gap-year program alumni. *Peter is also the Founder of The Abraham Joshua Heschel School in NYC.

The KIVUNIM Fellowship for High School Teachers, will take place in Morocco, preceded and followed by lecture/discussions on Zoom with some of the world’s most noted Morocco scholars. The Moroccan field experience aims to further an educational journey that will allow both teacher and student to see beyond the temptation to implicate, draw ultimate conclusions, and finally exclude those with whom we disagree, even strongly disagree. The ultimate goal of justice must always contain mercy which dictates a recognition that things are not always as “black and white” as they may sometimes seem. The Moroccan historical encounter is thereby a model for seeing beyond differences towards common ground.

The Kivunim Fellowship for High School Teachers aims to provide inspiration, motivation, experience, and educational content to its participants with the goal of bringing the Moroccan story to students in Public, Independent, and Jewish high schools across the United States. Our goal is to work together with teachers to produce classroom experiences and materials that will allow high school students to recognize the limitation of inter-group stereotypes and seek opportunities to learn from and explore settings in which differences and “otherness” lead to bridge-building—in place of the all-to-common, construction of walls.

  • "The trip to Morocco was a truly incredible experience. I encountered people, places, and ideas that were challenging, fresh, and exhilarating that allowed me to grow both as a person and as an educator. While there were many moments that we as a cohort were privileged enough to experience, the most impactful were the ones where we met with people actively building bridges between the Jewish and Islamic communities within Morocco. These experiences in Morocco will shape the way in which I teach and also serve as evidence to help my students understand all that is possible when people choose to work with one another."

    - Chris Schreiber, 2024; Social Studies Department Faculty, Notre Dame de Sion Schools of Kansas City, MI

  • “There is no doubt these past weeks in Morocco have broadened me intellectually, culturally, historically, and emotionally. For me, the door has been opened to a locale of Jewish history, multicultural present, and hopeful future. Like many American Jews, my world has been Ashkenormative. Like many consumers of news, my dreams have been dimmed. KIVUNIM has touched my head and heart, opening my eyes and brightening my outlook. I feel far more connected to the broader world of Jews and Judaism. Instead of harboring a feeling of Ashkenazi as “mainstream” Jews, I not only feel closer to Moroccan Jews and Sephardim, I also now challenge and minimize any structural distinction among Jews. KIVUNIM has helped me feel something that I knew intellectually: people have more in common than differences, and we can all be better together. KIVUNIM shows this both within the Jewish world and the larger world.”

    - Josh Cooper, 2024; Abraham Lincoln Teachers Fellow, Social Studies Department Chair, Ida Crown Jewish Academy, Skokie, IL

  • “The trip to Morocco this summer is a life changing experience. I was touched by what I saw and heard each day, and I was inspired to work even harder and become a better person and educator. …The warmth, welcome and respect of the Moroccan people inspired and touched me. The unique multi-cultural society gave me a new perspective and an alternative view of reality. It presented a real and concrete model for everyone who visited, learned and absorbed to gain a richer and deeper understanding of diversity. For me as an educator, to teach a value structure that enhances personal identity and fights against growing racism, bigotry, and antisemitism isn’t an easy task. But I want to be as persevering and devoted as those wonderful and talented people I met during this trip. I can’t wait to bring back this amazing experience to my classroom and school community and create opportunities for them to learn and explore different cultures and be humble and respectful.”

    - Zhenyan Xue Li, 2022; Head of the Chinese Department, Middlesex School, Concord, MA

  • “The trip had great personal meaning and will be applied in the classroom in direct and indirect ways. As an African-American who struggles with American History (and Government officials) denying the importance of African-American contributions, it was important to me to experience a country that values the contribution of a minority group. The Jewish Moroccan contribution is valued despite the fact that most Jews have migrated to Israel and Middle East politics continue to rage. It is a lesson in “true democracy” from a country that resides in a region rife with political turmoil.”

    - Petrus Fortune, 2023; Chair of Social Studies Department, Bishop Loughlin High School, Brooklyn, NY