Mishpatim Yesharim
1747 CE–1821 CE · Acharonim · Meknes
R. Refael Berdugo (1747-1821) was the foundational halachic authority (posek) of Morocco in the late 18th / early 19th century and the patriarch of the Berdugo rabbinic dynasty of Meknes. His Mishpatim Yesharim responsa and his Mei Menuchot Torah commentary set the standards of Meknesi legal ruling that prevailed throughout Morocco for generations.
After the Jews were expelled from Spain in 1492, Morocco held two Jewish communities side by side: the Iberian exiles (megorashim) and the older native North African Jews (Toshavim), each with its own customs. Berdugo's great achievement was fusing the two into a single Moroccan custom (minhag) that endured through the mass immigration to Israel (aliyah) of the 20th century. He was known as 'HaMashbir' for his economic leadership of the Meknes community during a severe famine.
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MeknesמקנסMorocco — historic halachic center
What they did here
Born in Meknes to the Berdugo family. Served as the principal halachic authority of Meknes for over five decades. Authored Mishpatim Yesharim and Mei Menuchot here; died in Meknes 1821.
Meknes in this era
Meknes under the Alaouite Sultan Moulay Ismail (r. 1672-1727) served as the Moroccan imperial capital; the Mellah grew alongside Ismail's vast palace complex. R. Refael Berdugo (1747-1821) emerged as the foundational late-acharonic posek of Moroccan halacha here; his Mishpatim Yesharim responsa shaped Moroccan rulings for generations. The Berdugo dynasty — R. Yaakov Berdugo, R. Mordechai Berdugo, R. Yehoshua Berdugo — anchored the Meknes rabbinate across the 18th and 19th centuries. The Mashash family also rose to prominence here.
About Meknes
Meknes was the seat of the Alaouite court under Moulay Ismail (1672-1727). Its Jewish community produced the Berdugo dynasty — R. Refael Berdugo (Mishpatim Yesharim, 1747-1821) was its most influential posek.
The world in their lifetime
Thinkers and teachers of other traditions whose lives overlapped with Mishpatim Yesharim’s — a glimpse of the wider world they lived in. Drawn purely from recorded birth and death years.
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