BENREMOKH

BENREMOKH (Rimokh, Remoch, Rimoc, Ramukh) , family in Spain and Morocco. solomon benremokh (1285) was a communal leader in Lerida, Spain. The exegete abraham ben Ḥayyim was born in Barcelona. He wrote a commentary on Psalms, to which he appended an autobiography containing information on the situation of the Jews in southern Europe. In 1391 his home was pillaged, his possessions stolen, and he himself imprisoned. He participated in the disputation of *Tortosa in 1413–14. In the 15^th century the Benremokh family fled to Morocco, where it attained a position of leadership in the community before 1492. Ḥayyim ben shem tov (d. after 1526) was one of the spiritual leaders of the indigenous communities of the kingdom of Fez, and shem tov ben abraham was their nagid. A dictatorial person, his dispute with the Spanish exiles of 1492 on questions concerning ritual slaughter created a friction of long duration between them and the native Jewish community. Dismissed from office in 1527, he was replaced by his relative saul ben shem tov who remained nagid until after 1563. yamin, confidential adviser to King Mūlay Zaydān, was sent on a mission to London in 1615 and in 1624 to Holland, where he remained until 1628. shem tov (ii) was nagid of Fez until his death in 1648. In 1650 his brother bought the position from the king against the will of the community, to which he caused great suffering. Thereafter, the family gave up political activity but remained among the most respected members of the Fez community. Part of the family settled in Gibraltar in 1785 and in London.

bibliography:

Baer, Urkunden, 2 (1927), index, s.v.Rimoch; Baer, Spain, 2 (1966), 131, 218ff., 472, 484, 500; sihm, Angleterre, 2 (1925), 490; Pays-Bas, 3 (1912), 498; 4 (1913), 72, 111, 143–6, 202–3; J.M. Toledano, Ner ha-Ma'arav (1911), 65–80, 101; Hirschberg, Afrikah, 2 (1965), 235–6.

[David Corcos]