{{Short description|Moroccan-born America Orthodox congregational rabbi}} {{Infobox Jewish leader | honorific-prefix = Rabbi | name = David Rebibo | honorific-suffix = | title = Senior rabbi | image = David_Rebibo.jpg | caption = | synagogue = Beth Jacob Congregation | synagogueposition = | yeshiva = Phoenix Hebrew Academy | yeshivaposition = Dean of students | organisation = Greater Phoenix Vaad Hakashruth | organisationposition = Rav Hamachshir | began = 1965 | ended = | predecessor = | successor = | rabbi = | rebbe = | kohan = | hazzan = | rank = | other_post = President, Orthodox Rabbinical Council of Greater Phoenix <!---------- Personal details ----------> | birth_name = David Rebibo | birth_date = | birth_place = Rabat, Morocco | death_date = June 15, 2024 | death_place = | buried = | nationality = | denomination = Orthodox | residence = Phoenix, Arizona | dynasty = | parents = | spouse = Odette | children = 5 | occupation = | profession = | alma_mater = | semicha = Rabbi David Ashkenazi | signature = }} '''David Rebibo''' was an Orthodox Jewish congregational rabbi, founder and dean of a K-8 Jewish day school, and founder and head of a kosher certification agency in Phoenix, Arizona. He was also president of the Orthodox Rabbinical Council of Greater Phoenix.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jewishaz.com/issues/story.mv?060210+chabad |title=Chabad honors Rebibos for 40 years of service |date=10 February 2006 |accessdate=23 May 2012 |work=Jewish News of Greater Phoenix |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120510003537/http://www.jewishaz.com/issues/story.mv?060210+chabad |archivedate=10 May 2012 }}</ref> He was a driving force behind the development of the Orthodox Jewish community of Phoenix since 1965.

==Early life and education== Rebibo was born in Rabat, Morocco<ref name="ou"/> to a Sephardic family.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jewishaz.com/jewishnews/981016/tale.shtml |title=A Tale of Two Cultures: Valley's Sephardic Jews adjust to differences in traditions of Ashkenazic community |first=Randi |last=Barocas |work=Jewish News of Greater Phoenix |accessdate=23 May 2012 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120610090913/http://www.jewishaz.com/jewishnews/981016/tale.shtml |archivedate=10 June 2012 }}</ref> He attended the Yeshiva of Aix-les-Bains (Ecole Supérieure Talmudique or Yeshivat Chachmei Tsorfat) in Aix-les-Bains, France.<ref name="ou"/> He also studied law at the University of Paris.<ref name="scott"/> He received his rabbinic ordination from Rabbi David Ashkenazi.<ref name="ou">{{cite web |url=http://www.ou.org/index.php/takefive/rabbi/hodu/ |title=Rabbi David Rebibo |publisher=ou.org |accessdate=23 May 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090907051341/http://www.ou.org/index.php/takefive/rabbi/hodu/ |archive-date=7 September 2009 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="kash">{{cite web |url=http://www.kashrusmagazine.com/ksg/Old%20and%20deleted/ksg_index.html |title=Biographies |year=2007 |accessdate=23 May 2012 |work=Kashrus Magazine |archive-date=3 May 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120503193717/http://www.kashrusmagazine.com/ksg/Old%20and%20deleted/ksg_index.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In 1953 Rabbi Avraham Kalmanowitz of the Mir yeshiva of Brooklyn, New York, met Rebibo in France and hired him as his translator while he met with local Jewish leaders. Afterward Kalmanowitz advised Rebibo to move to the United States where he would find more opportunity for rabbinical positions. Kalmanowitz helped Rebibo obtain a student visa, whereupon the latter came to study at the Mir yeshiva for one year.<ref name="award"/> Kalmanowitz helped Rebibo find his first teaching job at Yeshiva Magen David in Brooklyn. Rebibo next assumed the pulpit of a small synagogue in Memphis, Tennessee.<ref name="award"/> During this time he took undergraduate and graduate coursework at Memphis State University.<ref name="scott"/>

==Move to Phoenix== Rebibo was recommended by Joseph Kaminetsky, then head of Torah Umesorah – National Society for Hebrew Day Schools, as the best choice to open a Jewish day school in the southwestern US city of Phoenix, which then had a population of 10,000 Jews.<ref name="orthodox"/> In 1965 Rebibo and his wife moved to Phoenix, where he threw himself into the task of opening the city's first Jewish day school, the Phoenix Hebrew Academy.<ref name="award"/> Rebibo's efforts were opposed by the city's non-Orthodox rabbis, who believed that Jewish students should be absorbed into the larger community.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.hadassahmagazine.org/site/apps/nlnet/content.aspx?c=twI6LmN7IzF&b=5763109&ct=7807359 |title=The Jewish Traveler: Phoenix |first=Esther |last=Hecht |work=Hadassah Magazine |year=2012 |accessdate=23 May 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120201114433/http://www.hadassahmagazine.org/site/apps/nlnet/content.aspx?c=twI6LmN7IzF&b=5763109&ct=7807359 |archive-date=1 February 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Since most of the student body did not come from Orthodox homes, Rebibo calmed parents' fears that their children would be "converted" to Orthodoxy by setting a policy accepting children from all streams of Judaism. In time, some of the parents most active in the school were those belonging to the local Reform temple.<ref name="orthodox"/>

Phoenix Hebrew Academy opened on 7 September 1965 with 40 students in kindergarten and grades 1, 2, 3, 4, and 6.<ref name="editorial">{{cite web |url=http://www.jewishaz.com/issues/story.mv?080516+school |title='Day school culture' dates to 1965 |first=Salvatore |last=Caputo |date=16 May 2008 |accessdate=19 May 2012 |work=Jewish News of Greater Phoenix}}</ref> A few weeks before opening day, Rebibo spotted a "for sale" on a house at 337 East Bethany Home Road and acquired it as the school's first campus.<ref name="orthodox"/> In the 1970s, the school purchased a larger facility at 515 East Bethany Home Road, its current location. Rebibo has served as dean of students since the school's inception.<ref name="orthodox">{{cite web |url=http://www.jewishaz.com/issues/story.mv?060602+desert |title=40 years in the desert and counting |first=Salvatore |last=Caputo |date=2 June 2006 |accessdate=19 May 2012 |work=Jewish News of Greater Phoenix}}</ref>

Also in 1965, Rebibo founded the Greater Phoenix Vaad Hakashruth kosher certification agency, which he continued to head until his death in 2024.<ref name="kash"/>

In 1966, he established Beth Joseph Congregation, an Orthodox congregation, where he is senior rabbi. In 2000 he co-founded the Greater Phoenix Israel Kollel,<ref name="award">{{cite web |url=http://www.jewishaz.com/jewishnews/041112/rebibo.shtml |title=Brooklyn yeshiva honors Rebibo |first=Leisah |last=Namm |date=12 November 2004 |accessdate=19 May 2012 |work=Jewish News of Greater Phoenix |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120609184632/http://www.jewishaz.com/jewishnews/041112/rebibo.shtml |archivedate=9 June 2012 }}</ref> and in 2005 he led the effort to install a neighborhood eruv.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/0729eruv29.html?&wired |title=Fence of faith eases families' confinement on the Sabbath |first=John |last=Faherty |date=29 July 2005 |accessdate=27 May 2012 |work=The Arizona Republic}}</ref>

Rebibo was a strong supporter of the State of Israel and often speaks at Israel solidarity rallies.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jewishaz.com/issues/story.mv?090109+standing |title=Standing together with Israel: 1,500 gather at solidarity rally in Scottsdale |date=9 January 2009 |accessdate=23 May 2012 |first=Deborah |last=Sussman Susser |work=Jewish News of Greater Phoenix |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120610011033/http://www.jewishaz.com/issues/story.mv?090109+standing |archivedate=10 June 2012 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://tips-kmha.blogspot.com/2009/01/rallies-in-tucson-phoenix-and-sseattle.html |title=Rallies in Tucson &Phoenix, in Support of Israel, Jan. 4 |work=P2K Kiryat Malachi – Hof Askelon |date=8 January 2009 |accessdate=23 May 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jewishaz.com/issues/story.mv?100205+edit |title=Rabbi Plotkin |date=5 February 2010 |accessdate=23 May 2012 |work=Jewish News of Greater Phoenix |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120609155157/http://www.jewishaz.com/issues/story.mv?100205+edit |archivedate=9 June 2012 }}</ref>

==Family== Rebibo and his wife Odette have five children.<ref name="award"/> One son, Joel, served as associate rabbi of Beth Joseph Congregation and educational director of the Phoenix Hebrew Academy before making aliyah in 1983; he has since worked as an editor at ''The Jerusalem Post'' and the English-language ''Hamodia'' newspaper.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jewishaz.com/jewishnews/961206/rebibo.html |title=Family Values: Jerusalem Post editor covers the nation, reveres the home |first=Leni |last=Reiss |work=Jewish News of Greater Phoenix |accessdate=23 May 2012 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120610025941/http://www.jewishaz.com/jewishnews/961206/rebibo.html |archivedate=10 June 2012 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Articles/Article.aspx/7555 |title=Judaism: ''Vayetze'': When Prayers Are Not Answered |date=16 November 2007 |accessdate=23 May 2012 |work=Arutz Sheva}}</ref> A daughter, Debbie Fox, a mental health professional, also taught in her father's day school.<ref name="mish">{{cite web |url=http://www.mishpacha.com/Browse/Article/1826/In-Safe-Hands |title=In Safe Hands |first=Michal |last=Eisikowitz |date=15 February 2012 |accessdate=23 May 2012 |work=Mishpacha Magazine |archive-date=21 March 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130321090917/http://www.mishpacha.com/Browse/Article/1826/In-Safe-Hands |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Honors and awards== * The Prime Minister's Medal of Devotion to the State of Israel, 1975<ref name="scott">{{cite web |url=https://newspaperarchive.com/scottsdale-daily-progress/1975-12-04/page-19 |title=Valley Rabbi To Get State of Israel Medal |work=Scottsdale Daily Progress |date=4 December 1975 |accessdate=23 May 2012 |page=19}}</ref> * UJA Federation Leadership Award<ref name="ou"/> * Israel Bonds Man of the Year<ref name="ou"/> * Rabbi Avraham Kalmanowitz Memorial Award (Mir yeshiva), 2004<ref name="award"/>

==References== {{reflist|30em}}

==External links== {{Portal|Biography}} * [http://www.phoenixbethjoseph.org Beth Joseph Congregation website] * [https://books.google.com/books?id=DF3qtgAACAAJ "Interview with David Rebibo"] (Transcript of oral interview, 17 November 1992) * [https://archive.today/20130124230352/http://www.hamodia.com/inthepaper.cfm?ArticleID=135 "Harav Shmuel Kamenetsky Visits Phoenix"]

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Rebibo, David}} Category:American Orthodox rabbis Category:Moroccan emigrants to the United States Category:American people of Moroccan-Jewish descent Category:People from Rabat Category:20th-century Moroccan Jews Category:Year of birth missing Category:Religious leaders from Arizona Category:21st-century American rabbis Category:20th-century American Sephardic Jews Category:21st-century American Sephardic Jews Category:Jews from Arizona Category:2024 deaths Category:American Zionists Category:Heads of schools in the United States