27 Iyar · Yahrzeit
Sulika Ha-Tzadeket of Morocco
Tangier became an Arab city after its conquest in 1684 by Sultan Moulay Ismail.
Chaim Hatchuel was a modest merchant living with his wife Simcha and their children, whom they raised with respect for the Jewish religion. In 1820, a beautiful girl was born to them.
In Tangier at that time, everyone spoke Spanish, because most of the Jews who had settled there were descendants of Jews expelled from Spain. Little Sol was described as one who brought happiness.
Sol grew up as the darling of her family. She was about twelve years old when they began gathering her dowry, the "ajuar," and looking for a match for her.
But envious neighbors - the Muslim Masmudi family - took upon themselves a vile mission: they began spreading a rumor that Sol had converted to Islam and that she had recited the "shahada" before witnesses, which would make her a Muslim forever.
Under interrogation, Sol Hatchuel fiercely denied it:
"I am not a Muslim and never was, and do not wish to be. I am a Jew - a Jew I was born, and a Jew I will die."
She was imprisoned in Tangier, and then transferred to the city of Fes.
During a visit to the prison, her parents desperately pleaded with her: "Choose life - it is above all else. Save your life. Say that it is true, that you are a Muslim."
The rabbis also urged Sol to save her life, though they understood the threat hanging over the entire community. But Sol stood her ground. The Islamic court sentenced her to be burned alive. Her father, by paying a large fine, managed to have her sentence changed to... beheading.
In 1834, at the age of 14, Sol Hatchuel was led to the scaffold erected on the square before the mosque.
Before the execution, Sol was asked for her last wish. Knowing that, according to custom, before execution the victim was tied to a horse and dragged through the streets of the city, she asked for a needle and thread.
She pinned the needle through her skirt into the flesh of her leg, so that the fabric would not ride up and she would not be disgraced while being paraded through the city.
Even minutes before her death, she was thinking of the laws of Jewish modesty.
Sol was buried in the Jewish cemetery in Tangier. After her death, she became a legend.
She came to be called Lala Sulika Ha-Tzadeket. A mausoleum was erected in her memory.
The artist Alfred Dehodencq, who was present at the execution, immortalized her in his famous work "The Execution of the Jewess."
Lala Sulika died in the year 5594 by the Jewish calendar. Interestingly, 594 is the gematria of the word צדקת - "Tzadeket."
Sulika's resting place is visited not only by Jews, but also by Muslims, who call her a saint.
A Fitting Prayer at Sulika's Resting Place A segula from the great Mekubal Rabbi Avraham Hamoy, from the sefer "Yemalet Nafsho", against all Tzarot (troubles), Yisurim (suffering), and distress - "badukh u-menuseh" - (a tested and tried segula) - to be said every morning. Incidentally, the idea is taken from Tehillim (118:17): "Lo amut ki-echyeh va-asaper ma'asei Kah" - (I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of G-d). Yehudi Ani יהודי אני יהודי אני יהודי אני אחיה יהודי אחיה יהודי אחיה יהודי אמות יהודי אמות יהודי אמות יהודי יהודי יהודי יהודי Yehudi Ani, Yehudi Ani, Yehudi Ani, Echyeh Yehudi, Echyeh Yehudi, Echyeh Yehudi, Amut Yehudi, Amut Yehudi, Amut Yehudi, Yehudi, Yehudi, Yehudi – { 3 times (I am a Jew - I am a Jew - I am a Jew, I will live as a Jew - I will live as a Jew - I will live as a Jew, I will die as a Jew - I will die as a Jew - I will die as a Jew, A Jew - a Jew - a Jew).May the merit of Sulika bat Chaim ve-Simcha protect our people!
(http://rol-benzaken.centerblog.net/5354-sol-hatchuel-la-saddiqa-de-tanger)