Ḥayyim Abraham Gagin (known as Rav Aga"n, 1787–1848), was the scion of an illustrious North African family, based in Fez, that traced its origins to the Spanish expulsion. His mother was the daughter of David Majar, the prayer leader of the Bet El kabbalists. Upon the death of his first wife, Gagin married the daughter of Abraham Shalom Ḥasid, who was known as Doda (Aunt) Rivka in 1828. Gagin became the head of the yeshiva in 1827 and also served as the head of the Tiferet Yisra’el academy.

In 1842 Gagin was appointed rishonle-ṣiyyon ("first of Zion," the title of Sephardi head of the rabb…