Chacham Raphael Ankawa zt"l
הרב רפאל בן מרדכי אנקאווא זצ"ל
Av 4 , 5695
Known As: also spelled Ankavah or Encouau, Chief Rabbi of Morocco, Pamonei Zahav
Father's Name: Mordechai Ankawa
Chacham Raphael Ankawa zt"l
Born in Salé in 1848, Raphael Ben Mordechai Ankawa, also spelled Ankavah or Encouau, was the Chief Rabbi of Morocco and a noted commentator, talmudist, posek, and author of the seforim Karnei Re'em, Pa'amonei Zahav, on the Shulchan Arukh and the Choshen Mishpat; Sifrei Hadad veiTeima, writings on the Talmud.
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.
Stories of Chacham Raphael Ankawa zt"l
The following story highlights Rabbi Raphael’s great modesty:
One day Chacham Raphael came to daven in a different shul to pay honor an important family that davened there. His presence and arrival were greeted with honor and respect. When the Torah reading began the Gabbai called him up as: “May our teacher and Rav arise," adding many praises and titles such as "Ateres Rosheinu - the crown of our head, HaGaon and haDayan, haAnav - humble and tzadik righteous…”
However Chacham Raphael did not get up or move when he was called up. Everyone assumed that he had simply not heard the Gabbai’s call, so they told him that he had been called up to the Torah.
He explained softly, that although he had heard what the Gabbai had said, but that such a description did not refer to him. "The Gabbai was calling up someone else," and Rav Raphael refused to move until the Gabbai called him up again simply as Rabbi Raphael Encaoua, without any further titles or accolades, to come up to the Torah.