Raphaël Encaoua is the fourth and last bearer of Jewish thought of the lineage identified by David Encaoua. He was the first president of the High Rabbinical Court of Morocco. Chapter 15 of this Great Book (The Mellah of Salé) offers a detailed biography of this exceptional figure.
After the establishment of the French protectorate in 1912, Marshal Hubert Lyautey called upon Raphaël Encaoua to take the head of the first High Rabbinical Court of Morocco, created by a dahir of May 1918. Despite great initial reluctance owing to the humility that characterized him and to the respect he bore for other scholars such as the Rab Shlomo ben Danan of Fès, Raphaël Encaoua yielded to the insistence of Lyautey, who considered him the only one capable of unifying the rabbinic jurisdiction of the kingdom. His publications, often signed under the acronym REM, constitute a unified legal codification that still carries authority. The High Rabbinical Court of Rabat, which he presided over until his death, held prerogatives identical to those of the civil courts of the State — a unique case in the Jewish world of the time.
In 1929, Raphaël Encaoua was decorated with the Legion of Honor by the Resident General Lucien Saint. During his lifetime he was called 'the Angel Raphaël' (המלאך רפאל) on account of his gentleness, his compassion, and his empathy toward all, Jews and Muslims alike. His popularity extended beyond the communal sphere: the Moroccan authorities and the Muslim religious leaders consulted him regularly. At his death on 2 August 1935, at the age of 88, he was mourned as the 'Ner Hamaarav' (Light of Morocco). His tomb in the old cemetery of Salé lies in an impeccably maintained mausoleum that remains an active place of pilgrimage.
The legacy of Raphaël Encaoua continued through his direct descendants. His son Mikhael Encaoua became a dayan at the rabbinical court of Rabat, before succeeding his father as chief rabbi of Morocco, a post he held until his death in 1972. His grandson, Ephraïm Encaoua — who bears the same first name as the founder of the lineage at Tlemcen in the 15th century — was president of the rabbinical court of Tangier. This uninterrupted family succession, from Moshé Ankawa (1758) to Mikhael Encaoua (1972), constitutes an exceptional case of familial rabbinic continuity over more than two centuries. The dahir of 1918 creating the High Rabbinical Court thus officially recognized what the Jewish communities of Morocco had known for generations: the Encaoua were the natural guardians of the judicial tradition.