Religionיוסף משאש

Yosef Meśaś

Yosef Messas was a Moroccan-Israeli rabbi and halakhic authority who served as rabbi of Tlemcen and later as Sephardi chief rabbi of Haifa.

1892 to 1974Sephardi chief rabbi of HaifaChief rabbi of TlemcenRulings based on changing times

Born: 7 June 1892, Meknes
Died: 25 January 1974, Israel
Occupation: rabbi

Yosef Meśaś was born in 1892 in Meknes

Yosef Messas was born in Meknes, Morocco, in 1892 to Rabbi Haim Messas and Simha. He lost his mother at age 3 and his father at age 12. As a young man he studied at yeshivas in Meknes, including one headed by the brothers Yosef and Refael Alkobi.

In 1924 he became chief rabbi of Tlemcen in Algeria and held the post for 17 years. After the death of Rabbi Yaakov Toledano he returned to Meknes as a rabbinical judge. He also headed the rabbinical court of appeals in Morocco for 18 years and was honored by the king of Morocco.

He moved to Israel and settled in Haifa. At first he declined to serve as the city's rabbi, but after pressure from mayor Abba Hushi he was appointed Sephardi chief rabbi and served until his death. A Haredi campaign against his appointment did not succeed.

In his rulings he gave weight to changing times and supported new customs on that basis. He also wrote poems and drew the decorations on the title pages of his books. He died in 1974 and was buried in the Hof HaCarmel cemetery.