The Hiloula of Rabbi Isaac Ben Walid is the yom hillula or death celebration of Isaac Ben Walid, who died in 1870.
[1] Ben Walid was a religious leader and worked to improve the education of the Jewish community in the city of Tétouan, founding the first-ever school of the Alliance Israélite Universelle in the city in 1862.
[1][2] After he died in 1870, on the 9th of Adar Sheni, 5630 in the Jewish calendar,[3] at the age of 93, his tomb became a pilgrimage site, as well as the study room he had in the upper room of his synagogue, built in 1889[4][5] The tomb and his synagogue are visited on the anniversary of his death by Moroccan Jews from France, Israel, Panama, Venezuela, Canada and other countries where they settled.
[1][6] As customary in the Haketia-speaking communities of the former Spanish protectorate in Morocco, chants are sung in that variety of Judaeo-Spanish.
[7] On the hiloula of Ben Walid, Moroccan Jews celebrate by singing baqashot at community centers or synagogues.