Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, Spiritual Leader in Israel, Dies
By ISABEL KERSHNER
Rabbi Yosef was a fiery figure in Israeli politics who, as the leader of
the Shas Party, fought for the interests of Jews of North African and
Middle East origin. He was 93.
Rabbi Ovadia Yosef at Shas campaign launch Photo: Marc Israel Sellem/The Jerusalem Post
Shas spiritual leader Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, 93, passed away Monday afternoon after battling illness for the last several weeks.
The spiritual leader of the influential religious-Sephardic Shas movement, suffered a general collapse of his bodily systems earlier on Monday morning and was in immediate danger of death at Jerusalem’s Hadassah University Medical Center for several hours prior to his death.
The Hadassah Medical Organization announced on Monday afternoon that Yosef’s heart stopped beating at 1:20 p.m., despite the efforts of a whole team of doctors and nurses to save him up until the last moments. HMO and the Hadassah Women’s Zionist Organization of America expressed their sorrow over his passing.
Prof. Dan Gillon, who was part of the team who treated him over the past two weeks, said that that after his condition stabilized for a few days, at night his bodily systems suddenly collapsed, leading to his death.
He was visited at the hospital by President Shimon Peres just hours before he passed away.
“Woe unto me that I have come to witness this day,” a weeping MK Aryeh Deri, the Shas chairman, said outside of the hospital just minutes after the announcement of Yosef’s passing was made. “Our father, the one who was our leader, has passed. The light of the sun has been extinguished. We were orphans in his eyes.”
“This whole day I’ve been waiting to announce that we were taking him home healthy and sound,” Deri said. “But we accept this divine verdict. We already feel the sense of orphanhood.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed his "grief" at the passing of Yosef, calling him one of the "great halachic authorities of our generation."
"Rav Ovadia was a giant in Torah and halacha and a spiritual leader for tens of thousands," Netanyahu said. "He worked hard to glorify the heritage of Israel. At the same time his halachic decisions took into consideration the reality of renewed life in the State of Israel. He was imbued with a love of Torah and his people. I appreciated his warm personality and his direct manner."
Netanyahu said that he always learned something from his meetings with Yosef.
"The Jewish people lost one of the sages of the generation," Netanyahu said, sending condolences to his family, students and many followers.
Israeli politicians reacted with universal sadness to Yosef's passing.
“The religious Zionist public and the entire Jewish nation mourns the passing of Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, who served as chief rabbi of Tel Aviv and chief rabbi of Israel,” Naftali Bennett, the chairman of the Bayit Yehudi party, said in a statement. “He blazed trails with wisdom and sensitivity and united people with one another and Israel with the Creator.”
"The rabbi was one of the greatest spiritual leaders of our people this past generation,” Bennett added. “He was a symbol of halachic sensitivity and he had the privilege of making halacha accessible to the masses while being one of the leaders of the Jewish people for 70 years. I send my condolences to the family and hope for better days for the Jewish people.”Finance Minister Yair Lapid and his Yesh Atid party sent condolences to the family of Yosef.
Lapid said in a statement that "Rabbi Yosef was one of the molders of the Chief Rabbinate in Israel and one of the great religious adjudicators, and his absence leaves a great hole in the world of Torah. May his memory be blessed."
Chief Ashkenazi Rabbi David Lau said that "the Jewish people have just lost one of the most rare personalities in generations. He combined greatness in Torah, with taking on great responsibility in making religious rulings and served as the merciful father of tens of thousands of Israelis."
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas expressed condolences in the name of the Palestinian people to the family of Yosef on Monday.
Abbas made the comments while hosting a delegation of Israeli MKs in Ramallah.
Yosef's funeral procession was set to begin at 6 p.m.at the Porat Yosef Yeshiva in Jerusalem's Geula neighborhood and continue to the Sanhedria Cemetery. Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat instructed the director-general of the municipality to help with the funeral procession.
The police urged the public not to arrive to the area of the funeral with vehicles, stating that all of the streets surrounding the Sanhedria Cemetery would be closed to traffic.
Judy Siegel Itzkovich and Lahav Harkov contributed to this report.
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The spiritual leader of the influential religious-Sephardic Shas movement, suffered a general collapse of his bodily systems earlier on Monday morning and was in immediate danger of death at Jerusalem’s Hadassah University Medical Center for several hours prior to his death.
The Hadassah Medical Organization announced on Monday afternoon that Yosef’s heart stopped beating at 1:20 p.m., despite the efforts of a whole team of doctors and nurses to save him up until the last moments. HMO and the Hadassah Women’s Zionist Organization of America expressed their sorrow over his passing.
Prof. Dan Gillon, who was part of the team who treated him over the past two weeks, said that that after his condition stabilized for a few days, at night his bodily systems suddenly collapsed, leading to his death.
He was visited at the hospital by President Shimon Peres just hours before he passed away.
“Woe unto me that I have come to witness this day,” a weeping MK Aryeh Deri, the Shas chairman, said outside of the hospital just minutes after the announcement of Yosef’s passing was made. “Our father, the one who was our leader, has passed. The light of the sun has been extinguished. We were orphans in his eyes.”
“This whole day I’ve been waiting to announce that we were taking him home healthy and sound,” Deri said. “But we accept this divine verdict. We already feel the sense of orphanhood.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed his "grief" at the passing of Yosef, calling him one of the "great halachic authorities of our generation."
"Rav Ovadia was a giant in Torah and halacha and a spiritual leader for tens of thousands," Netanyahu said. "He worked hard to glorify the heritage of Israel. At the same time his halachic decisions took into consideration the reality of renewed life in the State of Israel. He was imbued with a love of Torah and his people. I appreciated his warm personality and his direct manner."
Netanyahu said that he always learned something from his meetings with Yosef.
"The Jewish people lost one of the sages of the generation," Netanyahu said, sending condolences to his family, students and many followers.
Israeli politicians reacted with universal sadness to Yosef's passing.
“The religious Zionist public and the entire Jewish nation mourns the passing of Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, who served as chief rabbi of Tel Aviv and chief rabbi of Israel,” Naftali Bennett, the chairman of the Bayit Yehudi party, said in a statement. “He blazed trails with wisdom and sensitivity and united people with one another and Israel with the Creator.”
"The rabbi was one of the greatest spiritual leaders of our people this past generation,” Bennett added. “He was a symbol of halachic sensitivity and he had the privilege of making halacha accessible to the masses while being one of the leaders of the Jewish people for 70 years. I send my condolences to the family and hope for better days for the Jewish people.”Finance Minister Yair Lapid and his Yesh Atid party sent condolences to the family of Yosef.
Lapid said in a statement that "Rabbi Yosef was one of the molders of the Chief Rabbinate in Israel and one of the great religious adjudicators, and his absence leaves a great hole in the world of Torah. May his memory be blessed."
Chief Ashkenazi Rabbi David Lau said that "the Jewish people have just lost one of the most rare personalities in generations. He combined greatness in Torah, with taking on great responsibility in making religious rulings and served as the merciful father of tens of thousands of Israelis."
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas expressed condolences in the name of the Palestinian people to the family of Yosef on Monday.
Abbas made the comments while hosting a delegation of Israeli MKs in Ramallah.
Yosef's funeral procession was set to begin at 6 p.m.at the Porat Yosef Yeshiva in Jerusalem's Geula neighborhood and continue to the Sanhedria Cemetery. Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat instructed the director-general of the municipality to help with the funeral procession.
The police urged the public not to arrive to the area of the funeral with vehicles, stating that all of the streets surrounding the Sanhedria Cemetery would be closed to traffic.
Judy Siegel Itzkovich and Lahav Harkov contributed to this report.
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