1. Ovadia Yosef known as Maran "Our Master", was an Iraqi-born Talmudic scholar, hakham, posek, and the Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel from 1973 to 1983.
81 Facts About Ovadia Yosef
1. 2.
Ovadia Yosef is highly regarded as one of the most influential Sephardic religious authorities of all time.
3.
Ovadia Yosef is a founder and long-time spiritual leader of Israel's ultra-Orthodox Shas party.
4.
The family was poor, and Ovadia Yosef was forced to work at a young age.
5.
Ovadia Yosef learned in Talmud Torah B'nei Zion in the Bukharim quarter, where his passion and skill for Torah study was apparent.
6.
Ovadia Yosef composed his first sefer, together with two friends, called Machberet Ha'atakat Hidot.
7.
In 1937, Rabbi Yaakov Dweck sent Ovadia Yosef to give the daily Ben Ish Hai halakha shiur in his stead at the Ohel Rachel Synagogue for the Persian Jewish community in the Beit Yisrael neighborhood.
8.
Ovadia Yosef became a long-time friend of several members of his class who went on to prominent leadership positions in the Sephardi world, such as rabbis Ben Zion Abba Shaul, Baruch Ben Haim, Yehuda Moallem and Zion Levy.
9.
Ovadia Yosef served, at the request of Rabbi Ben-Zion Meir Hai Uziel, as head of the Cairo beth din.
10.
Ovadia Yosef considered religious observance to be lax in Egypt, in the Jewish community at large, and among its rabbis.
11.
Back in Israel, Ovadia Yosef began studying at midrash "Bnei Zion", then headed by Rabbi Tzvi Pesach Frank.
12.
Ovadia Yosef served on the rabbinical court in Petah Tikva.
13.
Between 1958 and 1965, Ovadia Yosef served as a dayan in the Jerusalem district Beth Din.
14.
Ovadia Yosef 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.
15.
In 1973, Ovadia Yosef was elected Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Israel by a majority vote of 81 to 68, replacing Yitzhak Nissim.
16.
Ovadia Yosef's candidacy was criticised by some, as he was competing against an incumbent Chief Rabbi for the first time in the history of that office.
17.
The Council of the Chief Rabbinate was controlled by Goren, and for some time thereafter Ovadia Yosef decided that there would be no point in attending its sessions.
18.
In 1984, Ovadia Yosef founded the Shas party in response to minimal representation of Sephardic Jews in the Ashkenazi-dominated Agudat Yisrael.
19.
Ovadia Yosef later took a less active role in politics, but remained the party's spiritual leader until his death.
20.
One of the three, Musa Darwish, was convicted on December 15,2005 of Ovadia Yosef's attempted murder, and of throwing firebombs at vehicles on the Jerusalem-Ma'aleh Adumim road.
21.
Ovadia Yosef was sentenced to twelve years in prison and three years probation.
22.
When Ovadia Yosef was 24, he married Margalit Fattal, born in Syria, daughter of Rabbi Avraham HaLevi Fattal, when she was 17.
23.
Ovadia Yosef 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.
24.
Ovadia Yosef was referred to as the Posek HaDor, Gadol HaDor, Maor Yisrael, and Maran.
25.
On January 13,2013, Ovadia Yosef collapsed during Shacharit at his synagogue in Har Nof, Jerusalem and was having difficulty using his left hand.
26.
On 21 September 2013, because of his worsening health, Ovadia Yosef was admitted to Hadassah Ein Kerem hospital.
27.
Ovadia Yosef died in the hospital on 7 October 2013 after a "general systemic failure".
28.
Ovadia Yosef was buried beside his wife in the Sanhedria Cemetery.
29.
Ovadia Yosef frequently made use of the slogan "Restore past glory" as a metaphor embodying both his social and halakhic agenda.
30.
Ovadia Yosef says this explicitly and in very strong terms in Yalkut Ovadia Yosef :.
31.
However, there remains some disagreement over who exactly Ovadia Yosef considers to be bound by the rulings of Karo.
32.
Tzvi Zohar argues that Ovadia Yosef adopts a melting pot approach, in that he seeks to unify the traditions of all Jews in Israel, Sephardic and Ashkenazi alike.
33.
Ovadia Yosef compares between Yosef and religious reformers such as Martin Luther and Muhammad ibn Abd-al-Wahhab, and claims that Yosef has adopted a religious restorative-reformist worldview.
34.
Lau views Ovadia Yosef as operating on two fronts: the first against the Ashkenazi leadership which seeks to apply Ashkenazi rulings and customs to the Sephardim, and the second against the Sephardic and Mizrahi communities themselves, in demanding that they unite under the rulings of Karo.
35.
Ovadia Yosef adopted the Talmudic dictum that, "The power of leniency is greater".
36.
Ovadia Yosef saw this as one of the distinguishing characteristics of the Sephardic approach to Halakha, compared to the Ashkenazi approach.
37.
Ovadia Yosef regarded ruling with severity as especially harmful in the current generation, since strict ruling might lead individuals not to comply with the Halakha.
38.
Ovadia Yosef aimed to encourage maximal observance of Mitzvot among as many Israelis as possible.
39.
Ovadia Yosef applied a policy of turning a blind eye to deviations from the halakha in circumstances where, if strict adherence to the halakha were required, it is likely that it would not be followed at all.
40.
Ovadia Yosef was sometimes willing to accept rulings which rely on the rulings of the Ari zal, provided that these do not contradict rulings by Karo.
41.
In some instances, particularly in Jewish prayer, Ovadia Yosef championed Kabbalistic considerations - even at the expense of Karo's rulings.
42.
Ovadia Yosef gave strong preference to the written word, and did not attribute significant weight to minhagim and traditions which are not well anchored in the Halakha.
43.
Ovadia Yosef has been highly critical of this practice, and has stated:.
44.
Ovadia Yosef is often regarded as the pivotal force behind bringing Ethiopian Jews to Israel.
45.
Ovadia Yosef called on the authorities to save Ethiopia's Jews and bring them to Israel.
46.
Ovadia Yosef held a Halakhically ambivalent view towards Zionism as the Atchalta D'Geulah.
47.
Ovadia Yosef regarded the wars fought by the State of Israel as falling within the Halakhic classification of Milkhemet Mitzvah.
48.
Nevertheless, he encouraged young students to remain in the Yeshivas, rather than be drafted into the military, because, "despite the sensitivity which Rabbi Ovadia Yosef feels towards the Israel Defense Forces, he is deeply rooted in the Rabbinic tradition of the Yeshivas in the Land of Israel, and holds their position which opposes the integration of Yeshiva students in the military".
49.
Ovadia Yosef frequently referred to the present situation in Israeli and Jewish society as "the generation of freedom and liberty".
50.
Ovadia Yosef sought to bring this demographic closer to the Torah, while relying upon traditional Jewish sources for his rulings.
51.
Ovadia Yosef actively aims to engage in Kiruv, while still strictly adhering to Halacha.
52.
Ovadia Yosef had no sympathy towards Israeli Jews who profess a secular lifestyle.
53.
Ovadia Yosef's opinion was to fully exclude them from the Jewish community.
54.
Ovadia Yosef was opposed to bringing civil actions in the Israeli courts, because they decide outcomes by applying Israeli law, rather than Halakha.
55.
In matters of criminal law Ovadia Yosef is among the moderate Rabbinic voices who support the application of the rule dina d'malchuta dina, and therefore, it is forbidden to engage in criminal conduct such as tax fraud.
56.
In February 1999, Ovadia Yosef caused a controversy by strongly criticizing the Supreme Court of Israel:.
57.
In 1990, Rav Ovadia Yosef pulled Shas out of the coalition with the Likud and attempted to form a partnership with Peres's left-centre Labor Party.
58.
Ovadia Yosef has considerable political strength, mainly because he controls the Knesset members of Shas.
59.
However, the key influence of Rabbi Ovadia Yosef is in the arena of Judaism, specifically in halakha.
60.
Jewish prayers according to Ovadia Yosef's verdicts are the most common in Sephardic synagogues, and his halakhic books gained circulation beyond compare.
61.
Ovadia Yosef first applied the Pikuach Nefesh principle to Israel's conflicts with its neighbors in 1979, when he ruled that this argument granted Israel authority to return the Sinai Peninsula to Egypt.
62.
Ovadia Yosef argued that he was opposed to any unilateral action that occurred outside the framework of a peace agreement.
63.
Ovadia Yosef again cited the principle of Pikuach Nefesh, saying that empowering the Palestinians without a commitment to end terror would result in threatening Jewish lives, particularly in areas near Gaza in range of Qassam rocket attacks.
64.
Ovadia Yosef protested strongly against demands by the United States and other foreign countries that Israel freeze construction in East Jerusalem, saying that, "It's as if we are their slaves".
65.
Ovadia Yosef is generally considered one of the leading halakhic authorities, particularly for Sephardi and Mizrahi Jews, who bestowed upon him the honorific title of "Maran".
66.
Ovadia Yosef claimed the Holocaust was God's retribution against the reincarnated souls of Jewish sinners.
67.
Ovadia Yosef claimed that Israeli soldiers were killed in battle on account of their non-observance of Torah law.
68.
Ovadia Yosef was criticised for supporting the traditional role of women and minimising their capabilities.
69.
In 2013, Ovadia Yosef called for yeshiva students to emigrate from Israel rather than agree to serve in the army, stating:.
70.
Ovadia Yosef later said that his sermon was misquoted, that he was referring to annihilation of Islamic terrorism, and not of all Arabs.
71.
Ovadia Yosef called for improving the living conditions of the Arab people in Israel, and said that he has deep respect for peace-seeking Arabs.
72.
Ovadia Yosef drew criticism from the US State Department in August 2010 following a Saturday morning sermon in which he called for.
73.
Saeb Erekat, the chief Palestinian negotiator, said Ovadia Yosef's statements were tantamount to a call for genocide against Palestinians, and demanded a firm response from the Israeli government.
74.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu distanced himself and his government from the sermon, stating that Ovadia Yosef's words "do not reflect my approach, or the stand of the Israeli government".
75.
Three weeks later, Ovadia Yosef sent out a conciliatory message reiterating his old positions in support of the peace process.
76.
Ovadia Yosef blessed "all the leaders and peoples, Egyptians, Jordanians, and Palestinians, who are partners to this important process and want its success, a process that will bring peace to our region and prevent bloodshed".
77.
Ovadia Yosef was asked to finish the commentary Kaf Ha'Chaim by Rabbi Yaakov Chaim Sofer after the author's death.
78.
Two sets of Ovadia Yosef's responsa have been published, Yabia Omer and Yechaveh Da'at.
79.
Ovadia Yosef's responsa are noted for citing almost every source regarding a specific topic and are often referred to simply as indices of rulings.
80.
Ovadia Yosef printed a commentary on the Mishnah tractate Pirkei Avot under the title Anaf Etz Avot, and Maor Israel, a commentary on various parts of the Talmud.
81.
In 1970, Ovadia Yosef was awarded the Israel Prize for Rabbinical literature.