Raphael Meldola (rabbi)

Raphael Meldola was descended from an old, Sephardi family originating in the 13th century from Toledo, Spain, and numbering many rabbis and scholars through the generations.[1] He was born in 1754 to Moses Hezekiah Meldola, a rabbi and also professor of oriental studies at the University of Paris, in Leghorn.[2][3][4] His grandfather was a haham (senior rabbi) in Pisa.[5]

Raphael originally worked as a printer before he received a thorough university training, both in theological and in secular studies. Over the course of his studies, he displayed such remarkable talents that when only 15 years old he was permitted to take his seat in the rabbinical college in Livorno.[6] He received his semicha (rabbinical degree) in 1796 from Rabbi Chaim Yosef David Azulai (commonly referred to as the 'Hida'), and in 1803 became a dayan (rabbinic judge).[5][7]

In 1805, Meldola was elected haham of the Spanish and Portuguese Jews of Great Britain.[4][5][7] He arrived there following a long journey from Livorno on the eve of Rosh Hashana. In his first days, Meldola immediately and energetically embarked on a number of goals. Among them was improved collaboration and cooperation between Ashkenazi and Sephardi Jews, and he persuaded the two communities to set up a joint board for shechita (ritual slaughtering). Another area he soon took up was to counteract the activities of missionaries and the reform movement.[8][9]

Meldola looked as well to ensure the dignity and proper execution of synagogue prayers—and he introduced what has become one of the most distinctive and appreciated qualities of the Spanish and Portuguese service: its choir.[10] "As an Italian," notes one biographer, "Meldola had been fond of music and had been the first person to introduce a choir into the London synagogue."[5]

Meldola died in London in June 1828.[2][3][6] One of his last requests were to be buried alongside his predecessor rabbi David Nietto.[11]

Strong in his beliefs and passionate in his expression of them, Meldola was remembered as "kind-hearted man, ever ready to lend a willing ear to tales of distress and to do his utmost to procure assistance." His name will ever be indissolubly associated with that of Bevis Marks Synagogue.