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Ovadia Yosef, (Hebrew: עובדיה יוסף), born Abdullah Youssef in his native language,[1] (Arabic: يوسف) (1918[2] or September 24, 1920 – October 7, 2013)[3] was a Mizrahi ultra-orthodox rabbi, the former Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel,[4] a recognized Talmudic scholar and authority on halakha.
Yosef served as the spiritual leader of the ultra-orthodox religious Shas political party in the Israeli parliament. His halakhic responsa were highly regarded within Haredi circles, particularly among Mizrahi communities, among whom he was regarded as "the most important living halachic authority."[5]
Early life[edit]
Yosef was born Abdullah Youssef in Baghdad, Iraq on September 24, 1920 to Yaakov Ben Ovadia and his wife, Gorgia.[6] In 1924, when he was four years old, he immigrated to Jerusalem, Mandatory Palestine, with his family.[6] As a teenager he studied at the Porat Yosef Yeshiva, where he advanced to the highest level class taught by the rosh yeshiva, Rabbi Ezra Attiya.[7]
A story retells how Attiya was instrumental in keeping the young Yosef in the Torah world. At one point, the diligent young scholar suddenly stopped coming to yeshiva for several days. Attiya paid a visit to his home and was shocked by the poverty he saw there. Yosef's father explained that he ran a small grocery and needed the boy to work for him. Attiya attempted to convince the father of the importance of Torah learning, to no avail. The next morning, when the father entered his store, he found Attiya standing there, wearing a work apron. The rosh yeshiva explained that he had come to the store early that morning when Yosef was opening up. He had told the youth that he had found a substitute worker who would work without pay, and sent him back to yeshiva. "You said that you needed someone to help and could not afford to pay. I am that someone. Your son's learning is more important than my time!" he told the father, who finally conceded and allowed his son to continue learning in yeshiva.[8]
Yosef received rabbinic ordination at the age of 20.[6] He became long-time friends with several members of his class who went on to prominent leadership positions in the Sephardi world, such as Rabbi Ben Zion Abba Shaul, Rabbi Baruch Ben Haim, Rabbi Yehuda Moallem and Rabbi Zion Levy.[9]
Residing in Egypt[edit]
In 1947, Yosef was invited to Cairo by Rabbi Aharon Choueka, the founder of yeshiva 'Ahavah VeAchvah', to teach in this yeshiva.[10] Yosef also served, at the request of Rabbi Ben-Zion Meir Hai Uziel, as head of the Cairo beth din (rabbinical court). Yosef found that religious observance among both the Jewish community at large, and its leadership, including the local Rabbis, was lax. One of the major Halachic issues was the lack of any organised system of Kashrut, which led to conflict between him and other members of the community. Following these events Yosef resigned from his position, two years after having arrived in Cairo. Approximately one year after his resignation, he returned to what, in the meantime, had become Israel.[11]
Return to Israel[edit]
After returning to Israel, Yosef studied at midrash "Bnei Zion", then headed by Rabbi Tzvi Pesach Frank. He also served on the rabbinical court in Petah Tikva. His boldness as a posek was already revealed in his first term as a dayan when, at the age of 30, he wrote a Halachic ruling permitting Yibbum instead of Halitza which contradicted a religious ruling made by the Chief Rabbinate of Israel a year earlier which had forbidden Yibbum.[citation needed]
In 1951–1952 (תשי"ב by the Jewish calendar) he published his book on the laws of Passover titled 'Chazon Ovadia.' The book won much praise and received the approval of, among others, the two Chief Rabbis of Israel at that time, Ben-Zion Meir Hai Uziel and Yitzhak HaLevi Herzog. Two years later he founded 'Or HaTorah' Yeshiva for gifted Sephardic Yeshiva students. This Yeshiva (which did not remain open for long) was the first of many which he established, later with the help of his sons, in order to facilitate Torah education for Sephardic Jews and establish the leadership of the community for future generations. In 1953-4 (תשי"ד) and 1955-6 (תשט"ז) he published the first two volumes of his major work 'Yabia Omer', which also received much praise.
Between 1958 and 1965 Yosef served as a dayan in the Jerusalem district Beth Din. He was then appointed to the Supreme Rabbinical Court of Appeals in Jerusalem, eventually becoming the Chief Sephardic Rabbi of Tel Aviv in 1968, a position which he held until his election as Chief Sephardic Rabbi of Israel in 1973.[12]
Chief Rabbi of Israel[edit]
In 1973 Yosef was elected the Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Israel by a majority of 81 to 68 votes, replacing Yitzhak Nissim. His candidacy was criticised by some as he was competing against an incumbent Chief Rabbi. The election process was characterised by tension and political controversy because of the Psak Din of the Brother and Sister and tense relations between Yosef and Nissim. The tension between the two Rabbis began in the 1940s, when Yosef came out openly against the Halachic rulings of the Ben Ish Chai. In the same election, Rabbi Shlomo Goren was chosen as the Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel. The relationship between the two Rabbis was difficult. The Council of the Chief Rabbinate was controlled by Goren, and for some time Yosef decided that, as a consequence, there was no point in attending its sessions. During his years as Chief Rabbi, Yosef dealt with a variety of important social and Halachic issues (See: Halakhic Authority below).[citation needed]
Assassination plot[edit]
In April 2005, Israeli security services arrested three members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), who had been observing Yosef in public and were[update] held on the suspicion of intended murder.[13] One, Musa Darwish, was convicted on December 15, 2005 of Yossef's attempted murder and of throwing firebombs at vehicles on the Jerusalem-Ma'aleh Adumim road. He was sentenced to twelve years in prison and three years probation.[14]
Yosef married Margalit Fattal (d. 1994), daughter of a Syrian Sephardic rabbi, at the age of 24. They had 11 children.[6]
Final years and death[edit]
Yosef resided in the Jerusalem neighbourhood of Har Nof.[15] He remained an active public figure in political and religious life in his capacity as the spiritual leader of the Shas political party and through his regular weekly sermons, during which he regularly spoke out "against those he despised — rival politicians, gays and perceived enemies of Israel".[6] He was referred to as the Posek HaDor ("Posek of the present Generation"), Gadol HaDor ("great/est (one of) the generation"), Maor Yisrael ("The Light of Israel") and Maran.[citation needed]
On January 13, 2013 Yosef was hospitalized at Hadassah Medical Center after suffering what was believed to be a minor stroke. He had collapsed during Shacharit at his synagogue in Har Nof, Jerusalem and was having difficulty using his left hand. After he was seen by a physician in his home, it he was transported to the hospital.[16]
Two days after undergoing surgery for the implantation of a pacemaker on September 22, 2013, Yosef was sedated and placed on a respirator.[17][18]
On 21 September 2013, following a worsening health condition he was admitted to Hadassah Ein Kerem hospital. Yosef died in the hospital on 7 October 2013 after a "general systemic failure".[15][19] His funeral in Jerusalem was the largest in Israel's history, with an estimated attendance of between 800,000 and one million people.[20] He was buried beside his wife in the Sanhedria Cemetery.[20]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ovadia_Yosef | 
