Raphael Meir ben Yehuda Panigel (1804–1893) was the Sephardi

Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem The position of Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem was instituted centuries ago and was originally held by a member of the Sephardic community. Moses Galante served as Rishon LeZion, the title used from beginning of the 17th century to refer to the chief ...

, Ottoman Empire. Panigel was born in

Pazardzhik Pazardzhik ( bg, Пазарджик ) is a city situated along the banks of the Maritsa river, southern Bulgaria. It is the capital of Pazardzhik Province and centre for the homonymous Pazardzhik Municipality. The Tatars founded Pazardzhik i ...

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...

, but his family emigrated to the Land of Israel when he was a child. In 1828 and in 1863, he was an

emissary Emissary may refer to: * Ambassador * Apostle (disambiguation) * Diplomat * ''Emissaries'' (album), a 2006 album by black metal group Melechesh * Emissary (hydraulics), channel by which an outlet is formed to carry off any stagnant body of wate ...

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 Pope Gregory XVI ( la, Gregorius XVI; it, Gregorio XVI; born Bartolomeo Alberto Cappellari; 18 September 1765 – 1 June 1846) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 2 February 1831 to his death in 1 June 1846. He h ...

. In 1880 he became ''

rishon le-Zion Rishon LeZion ( he, רִאשׁוֹן לְצִיּוֹן , ''lit.'' First to Zion, Arabic: راشون لتسيون) is a city in Israel, located along the central Israeli coastal plain south of Tel Aviv. It is part of the Gush Dan metropolitan a ...

'', 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),

Talmud The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law ('' halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the ce ...

ic novellae, responsa, and homilies. His son-in-law, Yaakov Shaul Elyashar, later succeeded him.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Panigel, Raphael Meir 19th-century rabbis in Jerusalem Rishon LeZion (rabbi) Sephardi rabbis in Ottoman Palestine People from Pazardzhik 1804 births 1893 deaths