Early life Bibas was born in
Gibraltar to
Sephardi Jews descended from those who were expelled from Spain and settled in
North Africa. His father came from a line of
rabbis in
Tétouan that immigrated to Gibraltar after a
pogrom. One of his maternal ancestors was
Chaim ibn Attar. As a child, Bibas studied in Gibraltar. Following his father's death, he moved to
Livorno, Italy, to live with his grandfather. Livorno had a very prestigious and educated Jewish community. Bibas received in Livorno most of his Jewish and secular education, becoming fluent in
English,
Italian,
Spanish and Hebrew. He became a rabbi and trained as a
physician while in Italy. He later returned to Gibraltar and established himself as the
head of a local yeshiva. His yeshiva was attended by students from England, Italy and North Africa. In 1810, he came to
London, England, where he met with Jewish activist and philanthropist Sir
Moses Montefiore. Montefiore helped to fund Bibas's activism. In 1831, Bibas was appointed as the Chief Rabbi of
Corfu, Greece.
Zionist activism In 1839–1840, Bibas visited many
Jewish communities, particularly those of Europe. Inspired by the
Serbian and
Greek revolts against the Ottoman Turks, Bibas began advocating a mass repatriation of Jews to Israel (then part of the Ottoman Empire). In the same year, he met
Judah Alkalai and became Alkalai's mentor. Alkalai went on to become an influential
proto-Zionist himself.
Aliyah and death In 1852, one year after his wife died, Bibas made
aliyah and was welcomed by his students in
Jaffa. Later, he moved to
Hebron, established a seminary, and built his extensive library. He died two months after his arrival and was buried in the
Old Jewish Cemetery in Hebron. == Legacy ==