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In Errachidia, the Jews of the city and its surroundings had chosen, several centuries ago, to have their own cemetery. Although most of these tombs were damaged due to erosion and climate change, they have a great signifigance for the Jews of the region.
In fact, the city is home to two separate Jewish cemeteries. «In the first, few of the tombs from the early 1900s were in good shape; many were either destroyed by the elements or completely desecrated by local children», wrote Anthropology professor Aomar Boum.
During a visit to Errachdia, he said that «a large green door, decorated with hannukiot, led to the second cemetery», which hosts the tombs of the three Tsaddikim : Rabbi Yahia Lahlou, Rabbi Moul Tria and Rabbi Moul Sedra.
The very furious Rabbi Yahia Lahlou
These three saints would all have arrived in Morocco, or at least in the case of Rabbi Yahia Lahlou, at the time of the destruction of the First Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem in 587 BC. It is not known why Rabbi Yahia Lahlou settled down precisely in Errachidia, where he is buried now.
Rabbi Yahia Lahlou. / Ph. DR
A Moroccan woman of Jewish faith, Yakout Abbou, says that her «father-in-law, who lived for over 100 years, told [her] about the story of Rabbi Yahia Lahlou and the two other tzaddikims». In a video, the same woman indicates that «when the Jews knew that he (Rabbi Yahia Lahlou) was a tsaddik, they built him a temple. The next day it was destroyed. The Jews then accused the Muslims».
The Muslims of Ksar Souk (the former name of Errachidia) «were astonished by the accusations they had categorically refuted. They then urged their Jewish neighbors to rebuild the temple and hire a guard to watch the grave».
Yakout Abbou explains that «the next day, the temple was razed again. They understood that the tsaddik did not like this building on top of his grave». According to other accounts, some Jewish locals at the time dreamed that the tsaddik did not want the temple but was happy to be visited by pilgrims.
A tomb that lights up and a «jealous» saint
The pilgrimage of the tomb of Rabbi Yahia Lahlou begun since then. After some time, the Muslims informed the Jews that on Friday afternoons, after the prayer of Laasr, a kind of lamp begins to illuminate the tomb near Rabbi Yahia Lahlou. A lamp that descends from the sky, according to a local account. Seeing it as a miracle, the Jewish inhabitants of Errachidia decided then to include this second grave in the pilgrimage too, by giving the name of «Rabbi Moul Tria» to this tsaddik, who will thus remain an unknown saint.
Rabbi Moul Tria. / Ph. DR
A third grave is also included in this pilgrimage. Covered by the branches of a big tree (sedra), locals of Jewish faith did not notice that it hid a burial. «They were also starting to have the same dream; the tsaddik was coming to tell them that they were passing by the tree without visiting him. He would have told them that he was a hakham during his lifetime».
Whilst telling this story, Yakout Abbou, who was leaning over the tomb of Moul Sedra, spontaneously claimed to have «goosebumps».
Rabbi Moul Sedra. / Ph. DR
More stories relating to this mysterious saint were also mentioned. According to the Jewish Morocco blog, the tsaddik's tree was dressed with all kinds of women's clothes. Local women believed indeed that bathing on a Jewish tomb can heal them.
Tablet Mag recalls that people visiting the region of Errachidia used to see piles of clothes, hair, chains and sometimes bras and female underwear near the grave of Moul Sedra.
Pilgrims generally arrive from Kerrandou, which is in the north of Errachidia, after visiting a synagogue in this village to visit the three tombs of Rabbi Lahlou, Rabbi Moul Tria and Rabbi Moul Sedra.
