Joel A. Zack papers

Joel A. Zack is an architect and an architectural historian. Zack has a Master of Architecture degree from Columbia University and an undergraduate degree specializing in Islamic architecture from the University of Virginia. In 1986, Zack began documenting and studying Jewish sites in Morocco, surveying not just the landscape (cemeteries, synagogues, etc.), but the histories of communities that thrived around the now-decaying structures. Before his surveys began, it was assumed that Morocco's Jewish community and its architecture had all but vanished. Zack’s investigations uncovered several once-thriving Moroccan walled cities, or mellahs, and his photographic evidence encouraged the Moroccan government to once again historically recognize their past Jewish populace. Photographs and historical commentaries related to this work in Morocco were the basis for his publication, The Synagogues of Morocco: An Architectural and Preservation Survey, which was organized and sponsored by the Jewish Heritage Council and the World Monuments Fund.

In 1996, Zack traveled to Turkey to conduct similar research on forgotten Jewish sites. He used his historical research, site interviews, and photographic documentation to publish The Historical Synagogues of Turkey, with support from the American Sephardi Federation/Sephardic House.

Zack is the founder of and currently serves as the President of Heritage Tours, a New York-based tourism company that specializes in custom-designed private travel packages to Europe and Northern Africa.