Raphael Meir ben Judah Panigel (1804–1893) was the Sephardi chief rabbi of Jerusalem, Palestine.

Panigel was born in Bulgaria, but his family emigated to the Land of Israel

Land of Israel

The Land of Israel is the Biblical name for the territory roughly corresponding to the area encompassed by the Southern Levant, also known as Canaan and Palestine, Promised Land and Holy Land. The belief that the area is a God-given homeland of the Jewish people is based on the narrative of the...

 when he was a child. In 1828 and in 1863 he was an emissary on behalf of Jerusalem to the countries of North Africa, remaining there on both occasions for several years. In 1845 he travelled to Italy as an emissary of Hebron and was received with great respect at the Vatican by Pope Gregory XVI. In 1880 he was became rishon le-Zion, and in 1890 the Ottoman authorities appointed him hacham bashi (head of the Jewish community of Palestine). He was held in great esteem by all communities and authorities. He authored Lev Marpe (1887), talmudic novellae, responsa, and homilies. His son-in-law, Jacob Saul Elyashar

Jacob Saul Elyashar

Jacob Saul Elyashar, , was a 19th-century Sephardi rabbi who became Chief Rabbi of Palestine in 1893.He was born in Safed to Eliezer Jeroham Elyashar. In 1853 he was appointed dayan in Jerusalem and became head of the beth din in 1869. In 1893 he became the Rishon LeZion or Sephardi chief rabbi of...

, later succeeded him.