Last week, Israeli media announced that Yoshiyahu Pinto has been named Morocco's Rabbi. On Saturday, the Times of Israel, quoted by Yabiladi, reported that Pinto was installed as chief rabbi for the Moroccan Jewish community. On Tuesday, an updated communiqué was sent to Yabiladi by the Council of Israelite Communities of Morocco (CCIM), stressing that a «chief rabbi for Morocco has not been appointed yet». The same communiqué clarified that Rav Yoshiyahu Pinto «has been sworn in as the chief rabbinical judge in Morocco», also known as «Av Beth Din». Pinto will be heading this new institution which will be tasked with establishing a reliable Kosher system that conforms to the Jewish dietary regulations for the Jewish community in Morocco. «CCIM will be soon announcing the name of the new chief rabbi of Morocco», concluded the same statement. On Saturday, CCIM inaugurated two institutions dedicated to the Jewish community : «A Beth-Din Morocco and a center for Talmudic Studies», the council explained. For the record, 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 Times of Israel reported. Pinto is the descendant of the rabbi of Essaouira Haim Pinto (1746-1845).
