Yoshiyahu Pinto installed as chief rabbi of Morocco

Rabbi Yoshiyahu Pinto was installed, Saturday, as chief rabbi for the Moroccan Jewish community, the Jerusalem Post reports.

A special ceremony was held in Casablanca to celebrate the event, with the presence of senior government officials and the leaders of the Jewish community in Morocco, the same source said.

The ceremony was also attended by Serge Bardugo and the Casablanca regional governor installed rabbi Pinto.

Yoshiyahu Pinto has been living in Morocco since 2017, shortly after being released from prison in Israel. In May 2015, a court in Tel Aviv sentenced him to one year in prison after «being convicted of bribery for which he entered a plea bargain in Israeli courts», the same source recalled.

Pinto is of Moroccan origin. He is the descendant of the rabbi of Essaouira Haim Pinto (1746-1845). His appointment as Chief rabbi of Morocco had the blessing of King Mohammed VI.

Yoshiyahu Pinto, born in 1973, is the president of Mosdot Shuva Israel, based in Ashdod, Israel and New York. It enjoys international popularity, especially in the United States.