Kabbalist and halakhist, my 3rd Great Grand Father R. Joseph Elmaleh was considered one of the outstanding Moroccan scholars of his time. He served as rabbi of Salé; and of Rabat in 1780. There he maintained a large yeshivah, which continued to function after his death. In 1809 he was in Gibraltar with the intention, according to one source, of journeying on to Erez Israel, and was invited to serve as rabbi there. In the same year, however, he returned to Rabat. He introduced a special tax (imposta) on behalf of the poor, which is still levied. His responsa, Tokpo shel Yossef, is a valuable source for the history of the Jews of Morocco.

This book is a valuable source too for my ancestors knowledge.