David Rebibo

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. 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 He attended the Yeshiva of Aix-les-Bains (Ecole Supérieure Talmudique or Yeshivat Chachmei Tsorfat) in Aix-les-Bains, France.

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. 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. 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.

Also in 1965, Rebibo founded the Greater Phoenix Vaad Hakashruth kosher certification agency, which he continued to head until his death in 2024. and in 2005 he led the effort to install a neighborhood eruv.

Rebibo was a strong supporter of the State of Israel and often speaks at Israel solidarity rallies.

Family Rebibo and his wife Odette have five children. A daughter, Debbie Fox, a mental health professional, also taught in her father's day school.

Honors and awards The Prime Minister's Medal of Devotion to the State of Israel, 1975 UJA Federation Leadership Award Israel Bonds Man of the Year Rabbi Avraham Kalmanowitz Memorial Award (Mir yeshiva), 2004