Yoshiyahu Yosef Pinto

Yoshiyahu Yosef Pinto was born in 1973

Pinto was born in Ashdod on September 27, 1973, to Moroccan Jewish parents. His father, Rabbi Chaim Pinto, is a rabbi of Ashdod and Kiryat Malachi. On his mother's side he is a great-grandson of Rabbi Yisrael Abuhatzeira, known as the Baba Sali.

He studied in Lithuanian yeshivas, including Maalot HaTorah and the Yeruham yeshiva. After his marriage he studied at the kollel of the Grodno yeshiva in Ashdod.

In his 20s he founded the Shuva Israel yeshiva in Ashdod. It grew into a network of more than 60 yeshivas and education and charity institutions in Israel, the United States, Morocco and other countries. Around 2008 he moved to New York City for medical treatment and then divided his time between New York and Ashdod.

In September 2014 he pleaded guilty to bribing a senior Israeli police officer. In May 2015 he was sentenced to prison and a fine, and he began serving the sentence in February 2016.

After his release in 2017 he settled in Morocco. In April 2019 he was installed as Chief Rabbi of Morocco in Casablanca. In 2025 he met Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington and the rapper Kanye West.