Rabbi Raphael Berdugo

McGuire AFB

March 5, 2019

Rabbi (Major) Raphael Berdugo USAF received his semicha from Beth Medrash Govoha, Lakewood NJ in April 1993. Raphael was born in Dublin Ireland and grew up in Sunderland, England until the age of 12 and then in Marseilles, France until the age of 18. In 1987 he came to the US to study in Lakewood. After receiving his semicha he took on the position of 8th Grade Rebbe at the Politz Hebrew Academy in NE Philadelphia. He then taught Middle division in Hillel Yeshiva in Ocean NJ for two years, followed by three years at the Jewish Foundation School in Staten Island NY, and then four years at the Yeshiva of Flatbush in Brooklyn NY. In May of 2000 he was recruited to the USAF Reserves where he would serve during his summer breaks. In May of 2005 he switched to Active Duty and has been serving on AD ever since. His Assignments include Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, NJ, and Joint Base Andrews, MD, and Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, TX. He has deployed to Qatar, Kuwait, UAE, Iraq and Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom. He is currently assigned to JBSA-Lackland in San Antonio Texas. He has been married since 1990 to Dina (nee Sultan) and they have five children, Meir, Yaakov, Esther, Nissim, and Gila. They live in Lakewood NJ.