Rishon LeZion (title)
Encyclopedia
This list of Sephardi chief rabbis of the Land of Israel documents the rabbis who served as the spiritual leader of the Sephardic community in the Land of Israel
from the mid 17th-century to present. The Hebrew title for the position, Rishon le-Zion, (lit. "First to Zion"), has been used since the beginning of the 17th-century, and is sourced from a verse in Isiah 41:27.
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...
from the mid 17th-century to present. The Hebrew title for the position, Rishon le-Zion, (lit. "First to Zion"), has been used since the beginning of the 17th-century, and is sourced from a verse in Isiah 41:27.
17th century
- Moses GalanteMoses Galante (the Younger)Moses ben Jonathan Galante , grandson of Moses Galante, was a 17th-century rabbi at Jerusalem. He served as the first Rishon Le'Zion and was called Magen with reference to the initials of his name...
(1665-) - Moses ibn HabibMoses ibn HabibMoshe ibn Habib was the Rishon LeZion , Hakham Bashi and the head of a major yeshiva in Jerusalem.-Background and family:...
(1689–1696)
18th century
- Abraham ben David Yitzhaki (1709-1729)
- Eliezer ben Jacob Nachum (c. 1730)
- Nissim Chaim Moses Mizrachi (1748-1749)
- Israel Jacob Algazi (c. 1754)
- Raphael Samuel MeyuchasMeyuchasThe Meyuchas are a Jerusalem Sephardi family that has produced notable rabbis and merchants for hundreds of years. They trace their ancestry to Spain before the Alhambra Decree....
(1756-1771) - Chaim Raphael Abraham Ben Asher (1771-1772)
- Yom Tov Algazi (1772-1802)
19th century
- Moses Joseph Mordechai MeyuchasMeyuchasThe Meyuchas are a Jerusalem Sephardi family that has produced notable rabbis and merchants for hundreds of years. They trace their ancestry to Spain before the Alhambra Decree....
(1802-1806) - Jacob Moses Ayash al-Maghrebi (1806-1817)
- Jacob Korach (1817-1818)
- Raphael Joseph Hazan (1819-1821)
- Yom Tov Danon (1822-1823)
- Solomon Moses Suzin (1824-1836)
- Jonah Moses Navon (1836-1841)
- Judah Raphael Navon (1841-1842)
- Chaim Abraham Gagin (1842-1848) - first chief rabbi recognized by Ottoman government.
- Isaac KovoIsaac KovoIsaac ben Hezekiah Joseph Kovo was born in Salonica and later settled in Jerusalem, Palestine. In 1848 he succeeded Chaim Abraham Gagin as hacham bashi aged 78. Throughout his career he went on fundraising missions to Poland, London and Egypt. In 1854, while in Alexandria he died...
(1848-1854) - Chaim Nissim Abulefia (1854-1861)
- Chaim David Hazan (1861-1869)
- Abraham AshkenaziAbraham AshkenaziAbraham Ashkenazi was the Sephardi chief rabbi of Palestine.Ashkenazi was born at Janishar, near Salonica, in 1813. Aged fifteen, he was taken by his father to Jerusalem, where he studied rabbinical literature in the various colleges...
(1869-1880) - Raphael Meir PanigelRaphael Meir PanigelRaphael Meir ben Judah Panigel was the Sephardi chief rabbi of Jerusalem, Palestine.Panigel was born in Bulgaria, but his family emigated to the Land of Israel 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...
(1880-1892) - Jacob Saul ElyasharJacob Saul ElyasharJacob 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...
(1893-1906)
20th century
- Jacob MeirJacob MeirJacob Meir, , was the first Sephardic Chief Rabbi appointed under the British Mandate of Palestine. A talmudic scholar, fluent in Hebrew as well as five other languages, he enjoyed a reputation as one of Jerusalem's most respected rabbis....
(1906) - Elijah Moses PanigelElijah Moses PanigelElijah Moses Panigel was the sephardi chief rabbi of the Ottoman Empire, Palestine and Jerusalem.Orphaned in at a young age, Panigel was brought up by his uncle Raphael Meir Panigel, the rishon le-Zion...
(1907) - Moses Franco (1911-1915)
- Chaim Moshe Elyashur (1914-1915)
- Nissin Yehuda Danun (1915-?)
- Jacob MeirJacob MeirJacob Meir, , was the first Sephardic Chief Rabbi appointed under the British Mandate of Palestine. A talmudic scholar, fluent in Hebrew as well as five other languages, he enjoyed a reputation as one of Jerusalem's most respected rabbis....
(1921–1939) - Benzion UzielBen-Zion Meir Hai UzielBen-Zion Meir Hai Uziel was the Sephardi chief rabbi of the British Mandate of Palestine from 1939 to 1948, and of Israel from 1948 to 1954.-Biography:...
(1939–1954) - Yitzhak NissimYitzhak NissimRabbi Yitzhak Nissim was a former Sephardic chief rabbi of Israel. Rabbi Nissim was born in Baghdad and immigrated to Palestine in 1925....
(1955–1972) - Ovadia YosefOvadia YosefOvadia Yosef is the former Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel, a recognised Talmudic scholar and foremost halakhic authority.He currently serves as the spiritual leader of the Shas political party in the Israeli parliament...
(1973–1983) - Mordechai EliyahuMordechai EliyahuMordechai Tzemach Eliyahu ) was a prominent rabbi, posek and spiritual leader. He served as the Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel from 1983 to 1993.-Biography:...
(1983–1993) - Eliyahu Bakshi-DoronEliyahu Bakshi-DoronEliyahu Bakshi-Doron , is a former Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel.-Background:Rabbi Hamza Bakshi-Doron was born in Jerusalem and studied in several prominent Religious Zionist yeshivot...
(1993–2003)
See also
- List of Jewish leaders in the Land of Israel
- Old YishuvOld YishuvThe Old Yishuv refers to the Jewish community that lived in the Land of Israel from the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE to the First Aliyah in 1881-82, prior to the onset of Zionist immigration....