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Chaim Ben Diwan is a mysterious saint. Overshadowed by the fame of his father, Rabbi Amram Ben Diwan, the miraculous Jewish saint buried in Ouazzane, Ben Diwan is visited annually by Moroccan Jews.
During Lag Ba'Omer, a Jewish holiday celebrated the 18th day of the Hebrew month of Iyar, Jewish communities from Morocco and from abroad go to Ouirgane, located near Marrakech. Once in Ouirgane, they head to a village called Anrhaz to visit the tomb of Chaim Ben Diwan. The latter would have come from Jerusalem to Morocco alongside his father.
The two men left Jerusalem to raise money for schools (Yeshivot) and distribute the Torah to Moroccan Jews. He found himself, years later, without his father but with three of his disciples, in these High Atlas Mountains around the 18th century, wrote Dafina.
Buried with two of his disciples
Another version of his story suggests that Chaim Ben Diwan, while traveling south to pursue his father's mission, was followed by strangers from the mountains who wanted to kill him, recalled Diarna.
«What is said is that he entered a cave to avoid them, which may have been too successful. Not only did they not find it, but nobody ever found him», the same source added.
Indeed, the Jewish saint’s sanctuary houses three graves. «Three different tombs are located in the village of Ouirgane, leaving doubt as to the place of burial of Rabbi Haïm Ben Diwan - which befits the mysterious circumstances of his death. Two of the tombs are identified by marks which seem to indicate [that the third would be that] of Ben Diwan», the same platform explained.
The miracles of the saint of Ouirgane
In an article published by the Universal Israelite Alliance, JD Semach refers to some of the miracles linked to the tomb of Chaim Ben Diwan. «His grave had been placed near the Berber village; the inhabitants one day demolished it and threw the stones at the bottom of the ravine. The next day, they realized with amazement that the tomb had been rebuilt during the night and had taken up exactly where it was before», he said.
It is thanks to this mystical episode that the villagers would have finally recognized the «power» of this Tsaddik and would have themselves started to «venerate him under the name of Moul Enraze» (or Anhraz), which is also the name of the village.
Since then, the underprivileged, sick, disabled and women without children have been visiting this mausoleum. «All those who have faith in Rabbi Chaim (...) find help and protection from him, the relief of their miseries and the fulfillment of their dearest wishes», he added.
«He has thousands of miracles; we know them, we admire them, we repeat them and the list grows longer with time. Blessed are those who believe in him», he concluded.
In fact, Dafina recalls some of these unexplained phenomena, including the story of the tumular stone. «Besides the rocks which detach from the mountain to cover the tomb of the Santon and protect it from violations, several other miracles are attributed to Rabbi Chaim Ben Diwan».
The Jews who visit the site also take the opportunity to gather near the graves of two other saints, buried in the same mausoleum. These are the Rabbis Mordekhai and Abraham Ben Hammou, which brings the number of Rabbis buried in this place to three and explains the construction, later, of a synagogue for Jewish pilgrims.
