Jewish
Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
Jewish day school
A Jewish day school is a modern Jewish educational institution that is designed to provide children of Jews, Jewish parents with both a Jewish and a secular education in one school on a full-time basis. The term "day school" is used to differentiat ...
, and founder and head of a
kosher certification agency
A kosher certification agency is an organization or certifying authority that grants a '' hechsher'' (, "seal of approval") to ingredients, packaged foods, beverages, and certain materials, as well as food-service providers and facilities in which ...
in
Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona. With over 1.6 million residents at the 2020 census, it is the ...
. He was also president of the Orthodox Rabbinical Council of Greater Phoenix. He was a driving force behind the development of the Orthodox Jewish community of Phoenix since 1965.
Early life and education
Rebibo was born in
Rabat
Rabat (, also , ; ) is the Capital (political), capital city of Morocco and the List of cities in Morocco, country's seventh-largest city with an urban population of approximately 580,000 (2014) and a metropolitan population of over 1.2 million. ...
,
Morocco
Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...
to a
Sephardic
Sephardic Jews, also known as Sephardi Jews or Sephardim, and rarely as Iberian Peninsular Jews, are a Jewish diaspora population associated with the historic Jewish communities of the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal) and their descendant ...
family. He attended the Yeshiva of Aix-les-Bains (Ecole Supérieure Talmudique or Yeshivat Chachmei Tsorfat) in
Aix-les-Bains
Aix-les-Bains (, ; ; ), known locally and simply as Aix, is a Communes of France, commune in the southeastern French Departments of France, department of Savoie. He also studied law at the
University of Paris
The University of Paris (), known Metonymy, metonymically as the Sorbonne (), was the leading university in Paris, France, from 1150 to 1970, except for 1793–1806 during the French Revolution. Emerging around 1150 as a corporation associated wit ...
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...
,
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
New York may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* ...
, met Rebibo in France and hired him as his translator while he met with local Jewish leaders. Afterward Kalmanowitz advised Rebibo to move to the United States where he would find more opportunity for rabbinical positions. Kalmanowitz helped Rebibo obtain a
student visa
A visa (; also known as visa stamp) is a conditional authorization granted by a polity to a foreigner that allows them to enter, remain within, or leave its territory. Visas typically include limits on the duration of the foreigner's stay, area ...
, whereupon the latter came to study at the Mir yeshiva for one year. Kalmanowitz helped Rebibo find his first teaching job at Yeshiva Magen David in Brooklyn. Rebibo next assumed the pulpit of a small
synagogue
A synagogue, also called a shul or a temple, is a place of worship for Jews and Samaritans. It is a place for prayer (the main sanctuary and sometimes smaller chapels) where Jews attend religious services or special ceremonies such as wed ...
in
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. Situated along the Mississippi River, it had a population of 633,104 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Tenne ...
. During this time he took undergraduate and graduate coursework at
Memphis State University
The University of Memphis (Memphis) is a public university, public research university in Memphis, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1912, the university has an enrollment of more than 20,000 students.
The university maintains the Herff Col ...
Torah Umesorah – National Society for Hebrew Day Schools
Torah Umesorah – National Society for Hebrew Day Schools (or Torah Umesorah ) is a Haredi Orthodox Jewish educational charity based in the United States that promotes Torah-based Jewish religious education in North America by supporting and dev ...
, as the best choice to open a Jewish day school in the southwestern US city of Phoenix, which then had a population of 10,000 Jews. In 1965 Rebibo and his wife moved to Phoenix, where he threw himself into the task of opening the city's first Jewish day school, the
Phoenix Hebrew Academy
Phoenix Hebrew Academy is an Orthodox Jewish day school in north central Phoenix, Arizona. Founded in 1965 by Rabbi David Rebibo, who was dean of students since the school's inception until his death in June 2024, it was the first Jewish day s ...
. Rebibo's efforts were opposed by the city's non-Orthodox rabbis, who believed that Jewish students should be absorbed into the larger community. Since most of the student body did not come from Orthodox homes, Rebibo calmed parents' fears that their children would be "converted" to Orthodoxy by setting a policy accepting children from all streams of
Judaism
Judaism () is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic, Monotheism, monotheistic, ethnic religion that comprises the collective spiritual, cultural, and legal traditions of the Jews, Jewish people. Religious Jews regard Judaism as their means of o ...
. In time, some of the parents most active in the school were those belonging to the local
Reform
Reform refers to the improvement or amendment of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory, etc. The modern usage of the word emerged in the late 18th century and is believed to have originated from Christopher Wyvill's Association movement, which ...
temple.
Phoenix Hebrew Academy opened on 7 September 1965 with 40 students in kindergarten and grades 1, 2, 3, 4, and 6. A few weeks before opening day, Rebibo spotted a " for sale" on a house at 337 East Bethany Home Road and acquired it as the school's first campus. In the 1970s, the school purchased a larger facility at 515 East Bethany Home Road, its current location. Rebibo has served as dean of students since the school's inception.
Also in 1965, Rebibo founded the Greater Phoenix Vaad Hakashruth kosher certification agency, which he continued to head until his death in 2024.
In 1966, he established Beth Joseph Congregation, an Orthodox congregation, where he is senior rabbi. In 2000 he co-founded the Greater Phoenix Israel
Kollel
A kollel (also kolel) (, , , , a "gathering" or "collection" f scholars is an institute for full-time, advanced Torah study, study of the Talmud and rabbinic literature. Like a yeshiva, a kollel features Shiur (Torah), shiurim (lectures) and ...
, and in 2005 he led the effort to install a neighborhood
eruv
An ''eruv'' (; , , also transliterated as ''eiruv'' or ''erub'', plural: ''eruvin'' or ''eruvim'') is a ritual ''halakhic'' enclosure made for the purpose of allowing activities which are normally Activities prohibited on Shabbat, prohibited ...
.
Rebibo was a strong supporter of the State of Israel and often speaks at Israel solidarity rallies.
Family
Rebibo and his wife Odette have five children. One son, Joel, served as associate rabbi of Beth Joseph Congregation and educational director of the Phoenix Hebrew Academy before making
aliyah
''Aliyah'' (, ; ''ʿălīyyā'', ) is the immigration of Jews from Jewish diaspora, the diaspora to, historically, the geographical Land of Israel or the Palestine (region), Palestine region, which is today chiefly represented by the Israel ...
in 1983; he has since worked as an editor at ''
The Jerusalem Post
''The Jerusalem Post'' is an English language, English-language Israeli broadsheet newspaper based in Jerusalem, Israel, founded in 1932 during the Mandate for Palestine, British Mandate of Mandatory Palestine, Palestine by Gershon Agron as ''Th ...
'' and the English-language ''
Hamodia
''Hamodia'' ( – "''the Informer''") is a Jewish daily newspaper, published in Hebrew language, Hebrew-language in Jerusalem and English language, English-language in the United States, as well as weekly English-language editions in England and I ...
'' newspaper. A daughter, Debbie Fox, a
mental health
Mental health is often mistakenly equated with the absence of mental illness. However, mental health refers to a person's overall emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It influences how individuals think, feel, and behave, and how t ...
professional, also taught in her father's day school.
Honors and awards
* The Prime Minister's Medal of Devotion to the State of Israel, 1975
* UJA Federation Leadership Award
*
Israel Bonds
Israel Bonds, the commonly known name of Development Corporation for Israel (DCI), is the U.S. underwriter of debt securities issued by the State of Israel. DCI is headquartered in New York City and is a broker-dealer and member of the Financial ...
Man of the Year
* Rabbi Avraham Kalmanowitz Memorial Award (Mir yeshiva), 2004