In Awe and Fear
During a hilula ceremony on the 26th of Elul, at the gravesite of the tzaddik, Rabbi Chaim Pinto, zy”a, in Morocco, we ascended to the grave at midnight in order to recite the Selichot prayers there. There was a tremendous awakening among the throngs who had come to participate, and Selichot were said amid wails and tears. The sounds reached far and wide.
The Arabs in the nearby town were roused from their sleep by the strange sounds of Jews at prayer. They hurried to their windows, stunned by the sight of thousands pouring out their hearts at the cemetery. Even the policemen who were sent for added security were engulfed in a cloak of fear in the face of our gathering.
This was the fulfillment of the pasuk in Devarim (28:10), “All the peoples of the earth will see that the Name of Hashem is proclaimed over you, and they will revere you.”
