List of Sephardi chief rabbis of the Land of Israel

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 LeZion (literally "First to Zion"), has been used since the beginning of the 17th century, and is sourced from a verse in Isaiah 41:27. Between 1842 and 1920 the position of Hakham Bashi of Palestine was officially recognised by the Ottoman and British governments.

17th century[]

Moshe ben Yonatan Galante (1665–?)
Moshe ibn Habib (1689–1696)

18th century[]

(1709–1729)^[1]
(c. 1730)
(1748–1749)
Israel Yaakov Algazi (c. 1754)
Raphael Shmuel Meyuchas (1756–1771)
(1771–1772)
Yom Tov Algazi (1772–1802)

19th century[]

Moshe Yosef Mordechai Meyuchas (1802–1806)
(1806–1817)
(1817–1818)
(1819–1821)
(1822–1823)
(1824–1836)
(1836–1841)
(1841–1842)
(1842–1848) - first Hakham Bashi of Palestine recognized by Ottoman government.
Yitzhak Kovo (1848–1854)
(1854–1861)
(1861–1869)
Avraham Ashkenazi (1869–1880)
Raphael Meir Panigel (1880–1892)
Yaakov Shaul Elyashar (1893–1906)

20th century[]

Yaakov Meir (1906)
Eliyahu Moshe Panigel (1907)
(1911–1915)
(1914–1915)
(1915–?)
Yaakov Meir (1921–1939)
Ben-Zion Meir Hai Uziel (1939–1954)
Yitzhak Nissim (1955–1972)
Ovadia Yosef (1973–1983)
Mordechai Eliyahu (1983–1993)
Eliyahu Bakshi-Doron (1993–2003)

21st century[]

Shlomo Amar (2003—2013 )
Yitzhak Yosef (2013—)

References[]

^ Dov Noy; Ellen Frankel; Dan Ben-Amos (2007). Folktales of the Jews. Haifa, Israel: Jewish Publication Society. p. 38. ISBN 978-0-8276-0829-0. Retrieved 18 October 2011.

[NoyFrankel2007-1] Dov Noy; Ellen Frankel; Dan Ben-Amos (2007). Folktales of the Jews. Haifa, Israel: Jewish Publication Society. p. 38. ISBN 978-0-8276-0829-0. Retrieved 18 October 2011.

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