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 chie ...

during the reign of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

. Panigel was born in

Pazardzhik Pazardzhik ( ) is a city situated along the banks of the Maritsa river, southern Bulgaria. It is the centre of Pazardzhik Province and Pazardzhik Municipality. It is located in the Upper Thracian Plain and in the Pazardzhik-Plovdiv Field, a ...

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

, but his family emigrated to the

Land of Israel The Land of Israel () is the traditional Jewish name for an area of the Southern Levant. Related biblical, religious and historical English terms include the Land of Canaan, the Promised Land, the Holy Land, and Palestine. The definition ...

when he was a child. In 1828 and in 1863, he was an

emissary Emissary may refer to: __NOTOC__ Arts and entertainment Star Trek * Benjamin Sisko, the Emissary of the Prophets, the Bajorans' gods * "Emissary" (''Star Trek: Deep Space Nine''), the pilot episode of ''Star Trek: Deep Space Nine'' * "The Em ...

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 (; ; 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 June 1846. He had adopted the name Mauro upon enteri ...

. In 1880 he 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),

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

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 from Ottoman Palestine People from Pazardzhik 1804 births 1893 deaths Shelichei derabonan (rabbis)