Yom Hillula

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A Yom Hillula (Hebrew: יום הילולא, day of festivity) is another word for yahrzeit (the anniversary of a death). However, it differs from a regular yahrzeit in two respects. It refers specifically to the yahrzeit of a great tzaddik who taught Kabbalah and/or Chassidus, and unlike a regular yahrzeit, which is marked with sadness and even fasting, a Yom Hillula is commemorated specifically through simcha (joy), and festive celebration. This term is most often used in Hasidic circles to refer to the day of the death of Hasidic Rebbes.

The observation of a hillula in Maghrebi Jewish communities is also widespread, especially in Morocco, with the Hiloula of Rabbi Isaac Ben Walid and the Hiloula of Rabbi Haim Pinto among them, as well as the Baba Sali in the Israeli town of Netivot.