Personal Emissary Letter of the Tzaddik
Rabbi Amram ben Divan
while Journeying to Morocco. 1763
Emissary letter signed by the great Rabbanim of Hebron, recommending the tzaddik Rabbi Amram ben Divan who traveled from his native Hebron to Morocco as a Rabbinical emissary to raise funds for the hard-pressed Jewish residents of Hebron.
Due to the dire economic plight plaguing the Yishuv in Eretz Yisrael, the Rabbanim of Hebron dispatched the righteous scholar Rabbi Amram ben Divan on a mission to journey to western countries in order to raise money to save the Jewish settlement in the holy city of Hebron.
Rabbi Amram ben Divan (1740-1782) was born in Jerusalem and numbered among the revered scholars of Yeshivas Neve Shalom. He eventually settled in Hebron, where his authority was accepted by all.
Rabbi Amram embarked twice on the difficult journey to Morocco to raise money for the starving Jewish residents of Hebron. During the course of his second trip, the locals appealed to him to remain and teach them Torah; he ultimately accepted, settling in Fez. His reputation preceded him, and before long, his fame spread throughout the Maghreb as a pious tzaddik and miracle-worker who drew thousands to his door to receive his blessings and counsel.
Rabbi Amram ben Divan took ill and passed away in his prime, returning his soul to heaven on Tisha B’Av of 5542 (1782). The great Moroccan poet and liturgist Rabbi David ben Chasin in his sefer Tehillah L’David inscribed that the word “ad, until” in the verse in Eichah, “Ba’u mayim
ad nafesh, waters have risen until the soul” is an allusion to the passing of the tzaddik
Amram
Divan.
Passing of A Tzaddik
Despite his young age, Rabbi Amram foresaw his passing was imminent. Summoning the members of the chevrah kaddisha, he asked that they bury him in the Jewish cemetery in Ouazzane beneath an olive tree, without erecting any monument or mausoleum upon his grave. Until this day, his grave is marked solely by the olive tree and a pile of pebbles visitors have placed beside his resting place. Many have reported miracles and wonders regarding the said olive tree.
For the last 250 years, the tomb of Rabbi Amram ben Divan in Ouazzane has been a popular pilgrimage site among Moroccan Jewry, frequented specifically by those praying for health and recovery.
“And from all the western lands, they come to pray upon his grave, and how many miracles have occurred to those who pray at his tomb, miracles and wonders that cannot be described” (Malchei Rabbanan by Rabbi Yosef ben Naim p. 102a).
Until this very day, Jews celebrate Rabbi Amram’s Hilulah on Tu B’Av and Lag Baomer, with thousands of Jews from all sects and streams traveling from afar to pray at the grave of this tzaddik. Countless petitioners have related the miracles and wonders they experienced after visiting his holy burial site. Many of these stories were compiled in El Mayaan Ha’eden by Rabbi Meir Elazar Attia. Page 15 of this book includes a copy of the present letter along with the caption
“Throughout all generations this letter served as a segulah and miracle for all who held it.”
The endorsement letter is signed by the leading Hebron sages of the era see below for full details :
1. Rabbi Aharon Alfandri (d. 1774), author of Yad Aharon, was one of the leading Sephardic sages of his era; he disseminated Torah in the cities of Izmir and Hebron. His autograph appears first on the list of Hebron sages endorsing the Chid”a’s sefer Birkei Yosef.
2. Rabbi Chaim Yehuda Gomez Pato, Rav in Hebron and relative of the Chid”a. His signature appears on the Rabbinical endorsements of the Chid”a’s works Shaar Yosef and Birkei Yosef, as well as on the emissary letter delivered to the Chid”a for his travels during the years 1750-1782.
3. Rabbi Chaim Rachamim Bajayo , Rav in Hebron who set out on a mission parallel to Rabbi Amram ben Divan’s, together with Rabbi Yitzchak Zevi. His autograph appears alongside the signatures of noted Rabbanim of Hebron on numerous emissary letters and certificates (Yaari, Shluchei Eretz Yisrael p. 586).
4. Rabbi Yitzchak Zevi , Rav in Hebron and the son of Rabbi Avraham Yisrael Zevi, author of Orim Gedolim. He was raised in the home of his stepbrother, the abovementioned Rabbi Chaim Yehuda Gomez Pato (see preface to Orim Gedolim), and traveled twice as a Rabbinical emissary on behalf of the impoverished residents of Hebron (Yaari, ibid pp. 584, 586).
5. Rabbi Eliyahu ben Archa was a Rav in Hebron and descendant of the famous Rabbi Eliezer ben Archa. He set out as a Rabbinical emissary on behalf of the destitute Jewish community. His autograph appears alongside the signatures of noted Hebron Rabbanim on numerous emissary letters and certificates, as well as the Rabbinical endorsement to Birkei Yosef.
6. Rabbi Pinchas Mordechai Bajayo , Rav in Hebron whose autograph appears on Rabbinical emissary letters dated between the years 1854-1875, as well as the Rabbinical endorsement to Birkei Yosef and Orim Gedolim.
7. Rabbi Avraham Gedalya was one of the illustrious sages of Hebron. He set out thrice as a Rabbinical emissary during the years 1729, 1735, and 1744 to raise funds for his impoverished brethren in Hebron. His autograph appears alongside those of the great sages of Hebron upon the Rabbinical endorsement to Orim Gedolim and Shaar Yosef, and his teshuvos were printed in various sefarim by his contemporaries (Yaari, ibid 499).
This letter was dispatched to Rabbi Eliyahu Tzarfati, a disciple of the Ohr Hachaim and Av Beis Din of Fez. The recipient’s name is inscribed in a different hand perhaps the holy hand of Rabbi Amram ben Divan himself!
Hebron, 1763. Page size: 25×21 cm.
Tears and missing text in body. Letter professionally restored and preserved.
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