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Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, OBM.

Shas Spiritual Leader Rabbi Ovadia Yosef Passes Away

Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, the religious scholar and spiritual leader of Israel’s Sephardic Jews who transformed his downtrodden community of immigrants from North Africa and Arab nations and their descendants into a powerful force in Israeli politics, died on Monday. He was 93.

Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, who had suffered from a variety of medical ailments for several years, was hospitalized in recent days in critical condition after suffering kidney failure and problems with other bodily systems. Officials at the Jerusalem hospital that treated him announced his death.

Rabbi Ovadia Yosef was often called the outstanding Sephardic rabbinical authority of the century. His prominence helped boost the confidence of his community, which makes up roughly half of Israel’s population but was long impoverished and faced discrimination by Ashkenazi — or European — Jews who traditionally dominated Israel’s government and religious institution.

Rabbi Ovadia Yosef parlayed his religious authority into political power, founding Shas, a party representing Sephardic Jews that became a kingmaker in several government coalitions.

As hospital officials announced his death, anguished cries could be heard from a large crowd of supporters that had gathered.

Eli Yishai, a Shas leader, stepped outside the hospital, recited a Jewish blessing and then broke down into tears.

“How will we remain alone. Who will lead us,” said Arieh Deri, another Shas leader, as he sobbed uncontrollably.

Crowds of anguished followers recited the kaddish, the traditional Jewish prayer for the dead. Israeli TV stations said Israel’s main highways were already jammed up as tens of thousands of people prepared to head to Jerusalem for Rabbi Ovadia Yosef’s funeral later in the day.

The Iraqi-born Rabbi Ovadia Yosef came to national prominence when he served as Israel’s chief Sephardic rabbi from 1972 to 1983. While he was revered by his followers, his critics charged that he exacerbated ethnic tensions between Ashkenazi and Sephardic Israelis.

His ornate outfit, with a gold-trimmed black cape and upswept hat, combined with his ever-present dark glasses and habitually slurred speech, made him an easy target for caricaturists. He would greet visitors, whether it be followers or prime ministers, with a playful slap to the face.

But he was the charismatic face of his Shas party, with his image plastered on posters, buses and sides of buildings during political campaigns.

Shas first ran in an election in 1984, winning four seats in the 120-seat parliament.

It subsequently grew to 17 places, the third-largest party after the mainstream Labor and Likud. However, it was hit by scandals and the imprisonment of its leader, Deri, on corruption charges. Shas currently has 11 seats, making it a midsize faction, and sits in the opposition.

Rabbi Ovadia Yosef’s influence reached beyond the party, and he was known for his fierce statements that offended widely disparate segments of society, including Holocaust survivors, Palestinians and secular Jews.

He made his biggest political-religious waves by ruling that Israel may give back parts of the West Bank in exchange for peace, invoking the Jewish concept that preserving life is the highest commandment. In an attack on the 1990-1992 government of Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir, the rabbi asked: “What have you (Shamir) done to prevent bloodshed?”

“The sanctity of life overrules the slogan of not giving up an inch,” he added.

The ruling countered decrees by other rabbis, who declared that no Jew had a right to hand over any part of the biblical Land of Israel to a non-Jew for any reason.

But in recent years he appeared to retreat, emphasizing the religious and security aspects of the West Bank for Israel and backing Jewish settlement there.

The rabbi said during a sermon in August 2010 that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas should “perish from the world” and described Palestinians as “evil, bitter enemies of Israel.” He later apologized.

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20 Comments

  • mama

    Yosef? Yosef? Is this the respect we give to one of the greatest geonim of this generation? The admor of Sephardic Jewry? Thousands of people from all walks of life are streaming into yerushalayim from all over eretz Yisroel! Please show some respect and refer to him as harav……….

  • socal Shliach

    At least here the truth can be said.
    BD”E
    He was a Torah genius. Knew everything. No question.
    He didn’t like chabad, and in his earlier years he made no secret about it. Not did he like the Rebbe ZY”A much.
    An interesting note- for years he lived near shikun chabad and davened in the chabad shul there.

    In later years he realized it’s better to be polite to chaabad, as he had bigger enemies.

    He was a Dayan and a relative nobody (other than a encyclopedic talmid chochom and posek who nobody took too seriously) until Shach from bnai brak made shass.
    When he broke away Shach was furious.
    Through the menuval Aryeh deri he became a world class politician and thru his political party started receiving hundreds (!!!!) of millions in exchamge for his silence on the more touchy political matters like Land for peace talks
    Similar to what Agudas yisroel was under Lorencys (also a huge bum)
    Once he tasted the money he never went back
    And it is safe to say that it is the truth that he sold out klal yisrael for money.
    Because of him Rabin was able to sign Oslo and because of him thousands of Jews were killed and maimed by the bringing terrorists close to israel.
    That’s his TRUE legacy

  • baba sali tzt"l

    called him a zevuv ketzutz knafayim!

    The Rebbe mentions him once in Likkutei Sichos (and the Rebbe made them reprint it when he added the reference – after the first print pamphlet version was printed – very rare indeed, Shelach 5749).

    MMF – MN

  • feivel

    what you fail to realize #3 is, that there are some GREAT Rabbis who are entitled to have a different opinion than the Rebbe

    • Milhouse

      They were not even remotely on comparable levels. As Baba Sali noted. But this is not the time for this. Please, people, let’s stay classy and not bring up unpleasant topics at this time.

  • socal Shliach

    As anybody who read (and understood) my post would realize, the chabad perspective was written on behalf of the overwhelming majority chabad readers of this site.

    I’d rather remain polite so I won’t elaborate, but I do not believe ANY serious rabbis’ agree with the political moves of R’ Yosef.
    I’ll repeat it without shame. He sold his soul and conscience and that of klal yisrael for nothing more than money.

  • to #10

    It isn’t about a difference of opinion.
    U are missing the whole point.
    It’s what that opinion is, especially in relationship to Torah law, and what a person does with it. The truth may hurt, but it is the truth. Better not to speak specifics now that he is in olam hoemes.

  • Shlome Seldowitz

    I would like to share an incident that occurred with the great gaon and tzddik Rabbi Chaim Ovadiah Yosef zatzal to show that he indeed was a lover of Chabad and the Rebbe, contrary to the incorrect words of # 3.

    Many years ago, my former business partner went to Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef’s house in Har Nof, Jeruslem, to secure his blessing and letter of endorsement for a Talmud project that we were involved at the time.

    Rabbi Yosef was very reluctant to give such a letter. My former partner had to leave for Ben Gurion airport near Lod to return to the US. He exclaimed that it was a shame that Rabbi Yosef wouldn’t give a letter, as the Lubavitcher Rebbe wanted this project very much.

    Rabbi Yosef responded, “The Lubavitcher Rebbe wants this project?” He immediately took a paper and pen, and composed the nicest letter that we received.

  • to #15

    get your facts straight, even if this story you are writing is true
    it by no means erases everything else
    #3 is unfortunately not making these things up
    either way, he is in olam hoemes now, so best not to talk negative
    at the same time, to write the opposite in not an inyan either, #3 is NOT making this stuff up

  • Concerned Jew

    Forgive me, but Baruch Hashem that the the sampling of posters here on this website is not an accurate representative of Chabad Chassidim. Otherwise, having people such as this calling themselves chassidim of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, would have sullied his awesome legacy.

    The truth is that no one who has posted on this article, indeed not eve 99% of the Jewish population of the world, should even think about considering themselves worthy of making comments, such as the ones made here, about our gedolim batorah, specially about such unique and most remarkable personality such as Maran Ovadia Yosef.

    For all the lip service chabbad chassidim pay to bringing Mashiach, it is sad to see that some of them do the opposite of what is needed, sowing hatred- sinat chinam – where love and unity is needed, because of their own jelous, ignorant, petty, and insecure personalities.

    You want to bring Mashiach? Go do teshuvah.

  • SoCal Shliach

    Every word I wrote I feel is true and even more, it is very public knowledge.

    Tell me, did you see the clip flying around u – tube where he says things about kodesh hakodoshim our rebbe?

    Does anybody who really knew him as I did. Deny he had very very very little love for Lubavitch and the Rebbe before it was politically necessary to publicly play nice.

    Tell me, did shas (who I think had 19 or 20 seats,) have the power to veto the Oslo accords?

    Tell me. Did the Oslo accords bring countless terroir acts and korbonos to Jews in EY?

    Tell me. Did shass receive Hundreds of millions of Dollars from the govt. which enriched all those around him? And in return did he rubber stamp every shameful act Rabin and Peres ( who carried his Oron) did?

    Did I acknowledge that he knows Kol Hatorah kulo? Yes.

    He lives a very public and controversial life.
    What I wrote is the unfortunate truth.
    I’m sorry the truth hurts.
    So the question is , as was brought up here.

    why bring it up?? He was a Godol B’Torah etc. ?
    Answer: so that those who will inherit his legacy in shass, the Aryeh Deris of their world should know that not everything is mutter to build another kolel.
    You dont build Torah on the Blood of innocent terror victims.
    Baruch Dayan EMESS. Only Emess!

    • Milhouse

      This is not the time. לכל זמן ועת לכל חפץ and this is not it. If אל תנחמהו בשעה שמתו מוטל לפניו, then kol shekein the opposite.