PINTO

PINTO, name of several families who originated in the small town of Pinto, whose Jewish community was subordinate to that of Madrid. Some Pintos arrived in morocco from the Iberian Peninsula, particularly from Seville, in 1492 and 1496 and from the Canary Islands during the 16th century. The latter were former Marranos who settled in Agadir and Marrakesh, where they ranked among the spiritual and lay leaders of the Jewish communities of those towns. R. JACOB (d. c. 1750), a disciple of R. Abraham Azulai and a well-known kabbalist, wrote a lengthy commentary on the Zohar. His son, R. ABRAHAM (d. after 1800), was a dayyan in Marrakesh. The latter's commentary on the tractate Ketubbot is often mentioned in the work Sefer Ḥesed ve-Emet (Salonika, 1803). There are many manuscripts of his responsa and haskamot. R. ḤAYYIM (d. before 1840) was chief rabbi of Mogador, where he was revered as a saint. Pilgrimages are still made to his grave. ABRAHAM BEN REUBEN (c. 1750) was one of the leaders of the Jewish community of Agadir. A financier, he wielded considerable influence; the sultan of Morocco entrusted him with economic missions to Europe. During the 19th century the Pintos were prominent in the communities of northern Morocco, especially in Tangier and later in Casablanca, where their commercial importance was considerable down to the present day. -BIBLIOGRAPHY: E. de Avila, Be'er Mayim Ḥayyim (1806), 70–71; Azulai, 67; J.M. Toledano, Ner ha-Ma'arav (1911), 161, 190. (David Corcos)