13th of Elul 5669
The tombstone as it appears today
HaRav Ben Zion Chazan, rav of the Jewish Quarter and editor of the works of the Ben Ish Chai, was sitting at home when he heard a knock on the door. Rav Chazan asked the man on his threshold what he wanted and an amazing story unfolded:
"HaRav Yosef Chaim from Baghdad, the Ben Ish Chai, passed away and I buried his pure remains here in Yerushalayim, on Har Hazeisim. When I went to collect my fee, the family told me to come to you, his disciple, for my money."
HaRav Ben Zion was shocked to hear the sad news of the demise of the "Lion from Bovel," which had not yet reached Yerushalayim due to the communication difficulties of those times. He rallied and asked the Jew to take him to the burial site, which the gravedigger did. HaRav Ben Zion thanked him and paid him the going fee of half a gold coin.
The sad news arrived several days later — along with the information that the Ben Ish Chai had been buried in Baghdad. HaRav Ben Zion forthwith went to the office of the Chevra Kadisha, demanding to speak to the gravedigger who claimed that he had buried the tzaddik on Har Hazeisim. He was shocked to hear that the man had died just a few days before.
HaRav Ben Zion sensed that something unusual had taken place, but he was not the only one.
HaRav Avraham Chaim Adess, one of the foremost scholars and kabbalists of that generation, had been visited in a dream the very night before by HaRav Avraham Laniado zt"l who informed him of the passing of the Ben Ish Chai and said that he was bringing the pure remains for burial in Yerushalayim!
A large tombstone was erected on the site which the gravedigger had indicated, upon which the events were duly engraved.
