Legends of the Ohr HaChaim, from Morocco to Jerusalem

Rabbi Chaim ibn Attar, author of the seminal work on Torah, the Ohr HaChaim led the Jewish community in Morocco. Learn about the difficulties the community faced including the tale of how he survived being thrown into a pit of lions. He led a group to make Aliyah to the Land of Israel in the mid 1700s and founded a yeshiva in Jerusalem which still stands to this day.

Find out about how his writings influenced the Baal Shem Tov and the growing Hasidic movement and why the Ohr HaChaim is still revered 281 years after his passing.

Prayers for the yahrzeit of Rabbi Chaim ibn Attar, the Ohr HaChaim at the Mount of Olives cemetery in Jerusalem. His grave was spared destruction by the Jordanians when they controlled the eastern half of Jerusalem. Credit: Moshe Milner, Israeli Government Press Office, July, 1995.

Worshipers make the pilgrimage to the grave of the Ohr HaChaim at the Mount of Olives, a tradition dating back to the 1700s. One notable prayer gathering took place there during World War II. In the foreground is Absalom’s Tomb. Credit: Moshe Milner, GPO, July 1995.

Grave of Rabbi Chaim ibn Attar, born in Morocco and struggled to bring his students to Israel during the Ottoman era. Credit: Chesdovi (London, UK) Wiki Commons, 2010.

Ohr HaChaim Synagogue, located in the Old City of Jerusalem. Still in use since 1742. Credit: Ashpaa, Wiki Common, 2007.

NOTES:

• The Ohr HaChaim - HaModia news

• The Holy Or HaChaim: Keeping the Fire in Purgatory Off - Gal Einai

• The Or Hachaim and the Lion - Gal Einai

• Rabbi Haim Ben Attar – Ohr HaHaim Hakodesh - Hevrat Pinto

• Remembering the Holy Ohr HaChaim - Israel National News

• The Grave that was Saved - Ohr Somayach

• Ohr HaChaim - full text (Hebrew) - Sefaria

• The Witnessing Tree - Wisdom from the Ohr HaChayim - Chabad

• Rabbi Chaim ibn Attar biography - Chabad

• A Good Environment for Torah Study - Rabbi Chaim Ibn Attar - Ascent of Safed

• The Story of the Holy Ohr HaChaim - Esther Nava

• The yahrzeit of the Or Hachayim - Western Wall Heritage Foundation

• Or HaChaim Retrieves Hidden Message from Mitzvah of Returning Lost Objects

• The Miracle of Rabbi Gershon from Kitov - Hebron.com

• The Ohr Hachaim and the Baal Shem Tov - Chabad News

• What We Learn From The Ohr HaChaim - Rabbi Dovid Goldwasser