Yehuda Deri

Yehuda Deri was born in 1957 in Meknes

Yehuda Deri was born in Meknes, Morocco, to Eliyahu and Esther. His father ran a tailoring business, and the family kept a traditional but not religious way of life. In 1968 the family moved to Israel and settled in Bat Yam.

After a short time at a state religious school, he and his younger brother Aryeh were sent to a Haredi boarding yeshiva in Hadera. In 1973 the school closed, and he moved to the Porat Yosef yeshiva in Jerusalem. He later studied at the Ateret Yisrael yeshiva.

He first served as rabbi of the Ramot neighborhood in Jerusalem, where he headed the Kol Yehuda kollel. In 1997 he became Chief Rabbi of Beersheba and a member of the Chief Rabbinical Council. He ran for Chief Rabbi of Tel Aviv in 2005 and lost, and in 2014 he withdrew from the race in Jerusalem.

In 2024 he announced a run for Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel. He died on 9 July 2024 and was buried in Jerusalem. His son Avraham later succeeded him as rabbi of Beersheba, and his brothers include Aryeh Deri.