Ankawa, Raphael ben Mordecai
ANKAWA, RAPHAEL BEN MORDECAI
ANKAWA, RAPHAEL BEN MORDECAI (1848–1935), Moroccan rabbi. Ankawa was born in Salé, a descendant of an illustrious Sephardi family. He received an excellent traditional religious education from his father-in-law, Issachar Asseraf, the chief rabbi of Salé. His great authority made him the uncontested leader of Moroccan Jewry. In 1880 Ankawa was appointed dayyan in Salé. In 1918 he became president of the Supreme Rabbinical Court in Rabat, the supreme court of Moroccan Jewry, after the reorganization of Moroccan Jewish communities by French Protectorate authorities. Ankawa held this post until his death. In 1929 he was made a Chevalier of the Legion of Honor. His tomb in the Salé cemetery became a shrine for Moroccan Jewish pilgrims. He wrote the following halakhic works: Karnei Re'em (1910), Pa'amonei Zahav (1912), and To'afot Re'em (1930), and a book of talmudic glosses entitled Ḥadad ve-Teima (in manuscript form).
bibliography:
J. Ben-Naim, Malkhei Rabbanan (1931), 108a.
[Haim Zafrani]