The Encaoua contributed to the introduction and diffusion of Lurianic Kabbalah in the Maghreb.
After the expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492, many Sephardic scholars settled in the Maghreb, bringing with them the kabbalistic culture and the authority of the Zohar, which had become a central text in the Iberian peninsula. Gradually, the Zohar (composed in the 13th century by Moses de León in Spain) was widely accepted as part of the sacred canon within the Jewish communities of North Africa. A commentary on passages of the Sefer haZohar, attributed to a Rav Avraham Encaoua of Fès, is cited in several later works. The kabbalistic practice of amulets (kameot) experienced a particular development in the Maghrebi context, where it mingled with local therapeutic practices.
The founder of the North African line, Éphraïm Al-Naqua, embodies in himself the creative tension between rationalism and mysticism that characterizes the Encaoua. His Sha'ar Kevod Hashem defends the rationalism of Maimonides, but the central concept of Kavod (Divine Glory) borrows from the vocabulary of Jewish mysticism. Chapter IV of his treatise, devoted to the Glory of God, incorporates elements of Merkavah (Divine Chariot) mysticism while interpreting them within a philosophical framework. This rare synthesis of reason and mysticism would become the intellectual hallmark of the line.
The veneration surrounding the tomb of the Rab Éphraïm in Tlemcen, which endured for more than five centuries (1442–2005), attests to the mystical dimension of the Encaoua heritage. The spring of water gushing near the tomb, the miraculous healings reported by pilgrims, the hillula celebrated on 5 Iyar — all of this belongs to a popular piety deeply nourished by Kabbalah. The testament of the Rab, which mentions the 'two springs' — water and Torah — resonates with the kabbalistic symbolism of the Sefirot, where water represents the Sefira of Hessed (loving-kindness) and Torah that of Tiferet (harmony).
According to the work of the historian Haïm Zafrani, in the Maghreb the Kabbalah did not remain a speculation reserved for a learned elite. It permeated the liturgy, the law, the poetry, the music and even the gestures of daily life. The Zohar brought a mystical dimension to religious practices, transforming each act into a spiritual experience. The cult of the saints (tsadikim), the centrality of the cemetery in the spiritual geography of the communities, and the practice of the hiloulot — all features of Maghrebi Judaism that find their source in the kabbalistic tradition reinforced by the Sephardim. Some researchers emphasize that this Jewish mysticism shared spiritual affinities with the local Muslim mystical currents (Sufism, maraboutism), creating a common — though theologically distinct — sacred geography.
In the 16th century, Lurianic Kabbalah — elaborated by Rabbi Isaac Luria (the ARI) in Safed in Galilee — spread throughout the Jewish world, including the Maghreb. The concepts of tsimtsoum (divine contraction), chevirat hakelim (breaking of the vessels) and tiqqun (cosmic repair) were integrated into the liturgy and the popular devotional practices of the North African communities. The Encaoua, by their position both rabbinic and intellectual, played a role in integrating these new kabbalistic currents into the local tradition, while maintaining the creative tension between Maimonidean rationalism and Zoharic mysticism that has characterized the family approach since the Sha'ar Kevod Hashem of Éphraïm Al-Naqua.