Shrine of Rabbi Abraham Awriwer (Mwalin Dad), near Settat

The historian Issachar Ben-Ami, author of Saint Veneration Among the Jews in Morocco, writes that Rabbi Abraham Awriwer came to Morocco at the end of the 17th century as an emissary from the Land of Israel, visited several cities and died at Settat. Another folklorist describes him simply as “originally from the Holy Land”.

The researcher Evelyne Oliel-Grauz calls him a “generalist” saint: where many Moroccan tzaddikim (righteous people venerated after death) are linked to one kind of help, he is asked for healing from infertility, blindness and paralysis. One explanation of his name, repeated on a Moroccan Jewish forum, links it to a castor plant that flowered on his grave.

According to tradition, a Muslim’s camel loaded with salt sank one leg into the ground here and could not be freed. Local Muslims called on Jews for help, and when the leg was lifted they found a stone bearing the rabbi’s date, over which they built a marker. Ben-Ami records that attempts to build on the spot kept collapsing until the community finally raised a synagogue, a tomb and houses for pilgrims.

In the name Mwalin Dad, “Mwalin” means “the owners”; Ben-Ami connects the name with the rabbi’s seven brothers, who are honoured with him. Another folklorist writes that he lies beside the graves of his students. Another tradition says the tomb protected the Muslims of the region from an epidemic.

The hilloula, the annual celebration at a tzaddik’s grave, is held at Lag BaOmer, the festive 33rd day of the counting between Passover and Shavuot, on 18 Iyar (25 May in 2027). It honours the rabbi and the seven brothers, and is celebrated together with the hilloula of Rabbi Yahia Lakhdar near Ben Ahmed. In 2013 Bladi reported more than 1,000 pilgrims of Moroccan origin from Europe, Israel and the United States at the two sanctuaries, with an auction of lit candles that raised money for future celebrations.

The shrine sits on a remote hilltop, reported as about 40 km from Settat, and we have found no information on access outside the pilgrimage. A visit means arranging it ahead with the community, and we do that when we plan the trip. It is most rewarding at the hilloula; our hilloula guide explains what to expect.