The Golden Lineage of Meknes: The Enduring Legacy of the Birdugo Rabbinic Dynasty

A Legacy Interrupted, But Not Erased

In the year 1827, the Jewish community of Meknes gathered in grief. They stood in the courtyard of the city’s great synagogue, mourning the passing of their beloved rabbi, Rabbi Maimon Birdugo, author of Lev Mevin. He was more than a halachic (Jewish legal) authority. He was a judge, preacher, eulogist, and leader whose halachic rulings had reached far beyond Morocco. His death at just 60 shocked the community, especially since he left no surviving sons. His only child, Rabbi Yosef, a brilliant Torah scholar, had predeceased him. Was this the end of the revered Birdugo dynasty?

From Moonlight Study to Community Reform

Rabbi Maimon's father, Rabbi Raphael Birdugo, known as “Rabbi Raphael the Angel,” had himself grown up in poverty, often studying by moonlight for lack of candle money. Despite hardship, he rose to write more than ten works of Torah scholarship and serve as a strong, principled leader. His empathy for the poor led him to abolish harmful communal customs, like lavish gift-giving that left the needy humiliated or indebted. Instead, he instituted more modest standards, allowing dignity and inclusion.

Rabbi Raphael was the younger brother of Rabbi Yekutiel Birdugo, head of the Meknes yeshiva. Appointed as Rosh Yeshiva and community leader at just 26, Rabbi Yekutiel served for four decades, fearlessly defending halacha even in the face of political threats. He chronicled the traumatic riots that shook the Moroccan Jewish community after Yazid of Morocco seized the throne, describing in his responsa how his books were looted and Jews were pillaged with no intervention from the authorities.

A Dynasty of Torah Giants

Rabbi Yekutiel followed in the footsteps of his father, Rabbi Mordechai Birdugo (the “Marbitz”), who in turn was the son of Rabbi Yosef, son of Rabbi Moshe Birdugo (the "Mashbir"), whose father was Rabbi Avraham, son of Rabbi Yitzchak, all descendants of the founding patriarch, Rabbi Moshe Birdugo. This dynasty had led Meknes for generations, each man a Torah giant and community leader, leaving a lasting imprint on Moroccan Jewry.

A Living Legacy

While Rabbi Maimon Birdugo left no sons to inherit his mantle, the dynasty lived on through other descendants. Rabbi Chaim Yekutiel Birdugo became Av Beit Din (head of the rabbinical court) of Rabat and passed away in 1940. Rabbi Yehoshua Birdugo served as Chief Rabbi of Morocco until his death in 1953. Among the most recognized descendants was Rabbi Shalom Mashash, Chief Rabbi of Casablanca and, later, Chief Sephardic Rabbi of Jerusalem for 25 years until his passing in 2003.

Other descendants include Rabbi Shalom Lopes, Chief Rabbi of Acre. Today, their children and sons-in-law continue to serve in rabbinic and educational leadership throughout Israel, carrying the distinguished Birdugo legacy into the present day.