The tales of Rabbi Ya’aqov Wazana intrigued me because he followed Muslim and Judaism practices. Through history and the media I always felt that these two popular religions were always distinctive of each other. It puzzled me that this Rabbi had the advantage of using both customs to poses healing powers through demons. The past Rabbi’s in his family, I felt pressured Wazana to pursue being a Rabbi. After his father’s death he had no father figure let alone a Rabbi mentor to steer him in the right direction. Bilu infers that the Moroccan culture brings Wazana to learn and use the customs of both religions to heal the sick in which I agree with.

From what we learned in Tuhami’s cultivating experiences in Moroccan culture, it relates to many aspects of Wazana’s lifestyle. Wazana is in a culture where they believe in magic that can cast away Jinn or control them. According to Bilu it was not unusual for a Jewish healer to attribute some Muslim practices to heal the sick, but what Wazana did differently than other Jewish healers is base most of his practices off Muslim traditions.  The tale follows that Wazana went to seek a well-known sorcerer from another town. Wazana brought the sorcerer sugar to make a deal with him for his teachings. After a remarkable demonstration of the sorcerers power Wazana decided to stay and learn from him for six months. The sorcerer told him if he wanted to acquire his powers he needed to comply to these three rules “To keep himself clean, to say the Arab (Muslim) prayers each morning, and to marry one of ‘them,’ i.e., to choose a women from the underground (pg. 70).” It was debated his stance on Muslim practices but to my astonishment his acquaintances made him an exception that allowed him to practice both customs.

The debate for Wazana was he healed both Jewish clientele and Muslim clientele and for that either group could not object to his traditions. Both groups benefited from his magical healings because Wazana was known to complete some of the hardest tasks, so they could not even be mad at him. Although Wazana did dress in a Muslim fashion and said Arab prayers he identified himself with a Jewish identity. One of his acquaintances had said, “If you wanted those things (healing powers) you needed to be both a Jew and an Arab (pg. 71).” Ultimately grasping the main idea of his rituals he still preformed healing rituals that were valued through culture customs. He used the Jinn to perform impossible task and married one a Jinn as instructed to pose these powers that made him a successful healer.