Raphael Meir Panigel

Raphael Meir ben Yehuda Panigel (Hebrew: רפאל מאיר פאניז'ל; 1804–1893) was the Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem during the reign of the Ottoman Empire.

Raphael Meir Panigel רפאל מאיר פאניז'ל
Raphael Meir Panigel
Personal life
Born	1804 Pazardzhik, Ottoman Bulgaria
Died	2 January 1893(1893-01-02) (aged 88–89) Jerusalem, Ottoman Empire
Children	Vida Leah Eliashar, Yehudah Shlomo Panigel, Siniora Miriam Eliashar (biological), Yehuda Bechar, Eliahu Moshe Bechar Panigel (adoptive), possibly other
Religious life
Religion	Judaism
Jewish leader
Predecessor	Avraham Ashkenazi
Successor	Yaakov Shaul Elyashar
Position	Rishon LeZion
Began	1880
Ended	1893

קבר הרב רפאל מאיר פאניז'ל, הראשון לציון, בהר הזיתים

Panigel was born in Pazardzhik, Bulgaria, but his family emigrated to the Land of Israel when he was a child. In 1828 and in 1863, he was an emissary on behalf of Jerusalem to the countries of North Africa, remaining there on both occasions for several years. In 1845 he travelled to Italy as an emissary of Hebron and was received with great respect at the Vatican by Pope Gregory XVI. In 1880 he became rishon le-Zion, and in 1890 the Ottoman authorities appointed him hacham bashi (head of the Jewish community of Palestine). He was held in great esteem by all communities and authorities. He authored Lev Marpe (1887), Talmudic novellae, responsa, and homilies.^[1] His son-in-law, Yaakov Shaul Elyashar, later succeeded him.