Raphael Berdugo (Hebrew: רפאל בירדוגו; Meknes in 1747 – 1821), son of Rabbi Mordecai Berdugo, was a Dayan, a scholar, and an influential Moroccan rabbi.[1][2]
Berdugo was respected by his contemporaries; his decisions continue to be a source of inspiration to Moroccan rabbis.[1] He was regarded by his peers as an excellent speaker with a great natural authority and did not shirk from conflict with the notables. He did not limit himself to his role as a Dayan, but was also a community activist. Berdugo led the shohatim to abandon their old customs and follow the Castilian customs. He also introduced reforms in the laws of inheritance, for example the inheritance of a husband and children in case of the death of a wife.[3]
Berdugo had a number of adversaries. One of them was Rabbi Baruch Toledano. Their controversies were quite heated and have remained famous.[4]
Berdugo is listed as a saint in Culte des Saints et Pélerinages Judéo-Musulmans au Maroc. Rabbi Raphael married a daughter of the Mashbir and had four sons.[5]
Publications
List of publications by Raphael Berdugo, some unpublished, and some published by Rabbi Chalom Messas:
Torot Emet - on the four sections of Shulhan Aruch (Meknes 1939) - HebrewBooks.org
^ abAvioz, Michael, "R. Raphael Berdugo's Method of Reconciling Contradictions in the Bible", in: Review of Rabbinic Judaism, Volume 9, Number 1, Brill, 2006 , pp. 114-125(12)
^Issachar Ben-Ami, Saint veneration among the Jews in Morocco, Wayne State University Press, 1998, p.268
^Saul I. Aranov, A descriptive catalogue of the Bension collection of Sephardic manuscripts and texts, University of Alberta, 1979, p.33
