According to a tradition of the Kassin (Kaṣin) family, its roots go back to Spain before the expulsion in 1492. The first known member of the family was Señor Solomon Kassin, who fled Spain and settled in Aleppo. His descendants included many eminent scholars and communal leaders both in Aleppo and in American immigrant communities.

The first well-documented descendant of Señor Solomon Kassin was Judah ben Yom-Ṭov Kassin, who was born in Aleppo in 1708 and died in 1783. Like his father, he served as av bet din (head of the rabbinical court), and on many issues he was in opposition to Chief Rabbi R…