Visiting Graves of Ẓaddiqim in Yemen

Abstract

The article deals with the phenomenon in Yemen of Jews’ visiting the graves of ẓaddiqim, which was a very limited one. Throughout Yemen there were but a few gravesites of Jewish ẓaddiqim to which pilgrimages were made; they were of interest only to people living in their vicinity. The most famous among the Yemenite graves of ẓaddiqim was that of Rabbi Shalom Shabazi, the most highly esteemed figure among Yemenite Jewry. This was the only site to which Jews came from all over Yemen. Despite the difficult journey and the dangers along the way, Yemenite Jews visited the grave for various purposes: to make personal requests, to pray, to ask for success and for the fulfillment of vows made by people who had been ill but had recovered. In this paper, I present new oral and written testimonies about pilgrimage to his grave.