Raphael Hayyim Isaac Carregal

Who was Raphael Hayyim Isaac Carregal?

Raphael Hayyim Isaac Carregal was an itinerant Palestinian rabbi and preacher. He is the first rabbi known to have visited the colonies that became the United States.

Carregal refers to David Melammed as his teacher. He was an ordained rabbi at the age of seventeen, and in 1754 set out on a series of voyages, usually remaining a brief time in the places he visited; e.g., two years in Constantinople; two years in Curaçao,; four years in Hebron; two and a half years in London; one year in Jamaica; and one year in the British colonies of North America. July 21, 1773 he sailed for Suriname, and in 1775 he was at Barbados. In London, according to his own statement, he was teacher at the Bet ha-midrash, earning a salary of £100 per annum. At Curaçao, he appears to have held the office of rabbi, though no record of his incumbency is to be found in local annals. He spent some time in New York and Philadelphia, and sojourned in Newport, Rhode Island, as the guest of the community. Though not connected with the congregation, he often officiated at divine service, preaching in Spanish.