Tlemcen - Tombe du grand Rabbin Encaoua Cim

Text on the back -Carte Postale:COMBIER IMP, MACON;Production period - ca. 1930;Front Period - ca. 1930;Category - Cemeteries and tombs;Description - This horizontal postcard depicts a photograph of the Tomb of the Rabbi Ephraïm Enkaoua of Tlemcen, situated in the middle of a garden. Rabbi Enkaoua was one of the most prestigious rabbis of Algerian Judaism. He was born in Toledo in 1359 and took refuge first in Marrakesh to escape from the Inquisition, and then moved to Tlemcen in 1391. He was a great doctor and cured the daughter of the Sultan Abou Tafachin, who was renowned as incurable. To thank the Rabbi, the Sultan permitted him to bring the Jewish community back to the city center and to built a synagogue (See postcard hof10-0251). After the Rabbi's death, his grave stone became an object of annual pilgrimage during Lag Ba Homer (Jewish Holiday celebrated on the 33th day after Passover). People came to venerate him from regions of the Maghreb and also from Europe. [S.H]