October 7, 2013 seemed like just an average Monday morning at SCW. Girls rushed to class, waited in line for coffee, and prepared for another regular school day. Meanwhile, in Jerusalem, a reported 800,000 Jews crowded the streets to mourn the loss of one of the most prominent Rabbinical visionaries of our time. Although most well-known for his halachik authority in the Sephardic community, Rav Yosef was also a political activist and humanitarian. Maran HaRav Ovadia Yosef was ninety-three years old when he passed away this past month.
The revered leader of Sephardic Jewry, Rav Yosef was born in Bagdad, Iraq in 1920, and moved with his family to Jerusalem four years later. At age 20, he received rabbinical ordination from Yeshiva Porat Yosef in the Old City of Jerusalem. He then spent time in Cairo, Egypt as the head of the Beit Din before returning to Israel to serve in the Beit Din of Petach Tikvah. With his extensive background in Halacha, Rav Yosef soon published several Seforim (Judaic works), such as Chazon Ovadia, a commentary on Pirkei Avot and on select parts of the Talmud, and a ten-volume compilation of responsa titled Yabiah Omer.
In 1954, Rav Yosef founded Yeshivat Ohr HaTorah, the first of the many Yeshivot that he established in his lifetime. Through his Yeshivot, R’ Yosef sought to promote the Sephardic method of Torah study and to spark the emergence of a new generation of leaders which would continue his legacy of encouraging the Sephardic community to take pride in its own culture and rituals.
Between the years 1958 and 1965, Rav Yosef served as the Dayan, rabbinical judge, of the Beit Din of Jerusalem. He was later elected to the Supreme Rabbinical Court of Appeals in Jerusalem, and served both as the Chief Sephardic Rabbi in Tel-Aviv and the Chief Sephardic Rabbi of Israel.
For Rav Yosef, the plight of Sephardic Jews in Israel constituted one of the greatest unacknowledged challenges of the State. Indeed, the difficulties faced by Sephardim upon migrating to Israel were manifold; employment was hard to find and Ashkenazim dominated the social landscape. Financially disempowered, socially marginalized, and ashamed of their customs, many Sephardim abandoned religious observance. In response, Rav Yosef reinvigorated the Sephardic community and encouraged Sephardim to take pride in their unique religious practices. He is credited with starting the outreach movement, Lehachzir Atara Leyoshna, literally “to return the crown to its former glory,” which was responsible for spreading awareness about lost Sephardic practices and restoring lost inspiration to Jews all over the world. In addition, Rav Yosef established the Shas party in order to further advocate for Sephardic Jews in Israel.
Rav Yosef is also known for several groundbreaking halachik decisions. For example, after the Yom Kippur War in 1973, Rav Yosef released women from their halachik status as Agunot if their husbands did not return from war, on the basis of partial testimony or evidence of the soldier’s death. In another famous ruling opposed by some members of the Ashkenazic Hareidi rabbinate, R’ Yosef deemed it permissible to eat produce on the sabbatical year if the land had been symbolically sold to a non-Jew, otherwise known as the heter mechira. Other notable halachik rulings dealt with women’s hair covering, the recitation of Hallel on Yom Ha’atzmaut, and co-ed education
Rav Yosef’s health began to decline after he suffered a stroke in January of 2013, and he had been in the hospital for two weeks prior to his passing. When his death was announced from the Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital early Monday morning, police did anticipate a large attendance at the funeral, but, the number of people that crowded the streets was unprecedented: police say it was the largest funeral in Israel’s history.
Leaders of the State of Israel have expressed their condolences and admiration for Rav Yosef. “The Jewish people have lost one of the wisest men of this generation… Rabbi Ovadia was a giant in Torah and Jewish law and a teacher for tens of thousands,” commented Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Additionally, President Shimon Peres, who had been by Rav Yosef’s side not long before he passed, noted, “When I pressed his hand, I felt I was touching history…and when I kissed his head, it was as though I kissed the very greatness of Israel.”
The immense sense of loss in the wake of Rav Yosef’s passing continues to reverberate around the globe and sweep across the religious and political spectrum. At Stern College, Roshei Yeshiva and students alike struggle to absorb the enormity of the news. In a lecture given at Stern College the night of Rav Yosef’s passing, Rosh Yeshiva Rabbi Mordechai Willig, who directly corresponded with Rav Yosef about the status of women left as Agunot in the aftermath of September 11th, described his personal feelings of loss. He also stressed the warmth Rav Yosef expressed towards the Ashkenazic community, whom Rav Yosef often referred to as “acheinu ha’ashkenazim” – our brothers, the Ashkenazim.
SCW student and president of Stern’s Sephardi club, Moran Yazdani, reflects on the impact Rav Ovadia Yosef had on the Sephardic community: “Hacham Ovadia Yosef can be characterized by his great knowledge of Torah and the legacy he left to the Sephardic Jews… From strongly observant to less affiliated Jews, people in the Sephardi community were truly influenced by his outstanding way of validating the Sephardic tradition.”