Rabbi Raphael Baruch Toledano, "Baba Raphael", was born in Meknes in 1890, the son of Rabbi Yaakov Toledano, rabbi of the city. He came from the illustrious Toledano family, a rabbinic family exiled from Spain and originating in Toledo; according to tradition, at the expulsion of 1492 the family vowed never to return to Spain. He married his cousin Rachel, daughter of Rabbi Shalom Amar. His main teacher was Rabbi Chaim Berdugo, and he studied Mussar under Rabbi Chaim Messas. The name Raphael was added to his own in 1930, during an illness.

Shortly before his father's death, in 1932, he became a dayan on the Meknes rabbinical court headed by Rabbi Yehoshua Berdugo, later joined by Rabbi Yosef Messas and Rabbi Baruch Avraham Toledano. He went on to become its av beit din and the city's rabbi, and was one of the great sages of Morocco, loved by all for his kindness and wisdom. At the assemblies of the Council of Moroccan Rabbis he called for independent Jewish education under rabbinic supervision.

In 1963 he moved to Israel and settled in Bnei Brak. He wrote the Kitzur Shulchan Aruch HaMeforash, a digest of halacha based on the rulings of the Kaf HaChaim and Moroccan custom. He passed away on 18 Cheshvan 5731 (1970).