Ovadia Yosef

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Ovadja Yosef, 2007

Rabbi Ovadia Yosef (Hebrew: עובדיה יוסף‎) (born September 23 1920, Basra, Iraq and now living in Jerusalem) is a Mizrahi Haredi rabbi, Talmudic scholar, and recognized halakhic authority. He is the former Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel, although he himself is Iraqi, not Sephardi. Yosef is also the current spiritual leader of the Shas political party in the Israeli Knesset. He is highly revered in the religious world, especially in the Sephardi and Mizrahi communities, for his erudition and Torah scholarship. He is among the most important poskim of the past few generations and is regarded by many as the foremost Rabbinical authority and a source of Daat Torah. He has been 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.

Rabbi Yosef's halakhic responsa are highly regarded within Orthodox circles and are considered binding in many Mizrahi communities, among whom he is regarded as "the most important living halachic authority."^[1]. Rabbi Yosef's responsa are noted for citing almost every source regarding a specific topic and are often referred to simply as indices of all previous rulings.

Rabbi Yosef has two central projects, intertwined with each other, which are embodied in the slogan "Restoring the Crown to its Old State" (Hebrew: להחזיר עטרה ליושנה). The first, a Halakhic project, is an attempt to create a unified Halakhic codex subject to the rulings of Rabbi Yosef Karo. This project is essentially innovative, in that its attempt to unify the various Halakhic traditions in light of the rulings of Yosef Karo does not constitute a return to the traditionally accepted Sephardic approach (nor, indeed, to the traditional approach of the Jews of Baghdad, where Rabbi Yosef was born). As part of this project Rabbi Yosef aims to unify the minhagim of the various Jewish groups in Israel by calling upon them to relinquish minhagim and traditions (often rooted in the Kaballah) which they practiced in the lands where they resided prior to their immigration to the Land of Israel. His second project, a social one, is to improve the status of Sephardic and Mizrahi Jews in light of the hegemony of Ashkenazi Jews in the Torah world. This hegemony has somewhat diminished over the past few decades, in no small part because of his own political and religious activities.

As spiritual leader of the Shas political party, Rabbi Yosef is seen as a prime mover in improving the status of Sephardi and Mizrahi Jews in the State of Israel. He believes that voting in parliamentary elections and participating in Israeli politics is the key to such improvements. Through his position with Shas, he has become a significant — and controversial — figure in Israeli politics.

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early life

Ovadia Yosef was born in Basra, Iraq, but moved to Jerusalem with his family in 1924, when he was four years old. In his teens, he entered Porat Yosef Yeshiva, where he advanced to the highest shiur taught by the rosh yeshiva, Rabbi Ezra Attiya.

A famous story retells how Rabbi Attiya was instrumental in keeping the young Ovadia in the Torah world. At one point, the diligent young scholar suddenly stopped coming to yeshiva for several days. Rabbi Attiya paid a visit to his home and was shocked by the poverty he saw there. Ovadia's father explained that he ran a small grocery and needed the boy to work for him. Rabbi 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 Rabbi Attiya standing there, wearing a work apron. The rosh yeshiva explained that he had come to the store early that morning when Ovadia 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.^[2]

Ovadia received semicha (rabbinical ordination) at the age of 20. He became long-time friends with Rabbi Ben Zion Abba Shaul, who began his yeshiva career in the same class and who advanced to become rosh yeshiva of Porat Yosef in 1983.

[edit] Residing in Egypt

In 1947, Yosef was invited to Cairo by Rabbi Aharon Choueka, the founder of yeshiva 'Ahavah VeAchvah', to teach in this yeshiva.^[3] Rabbi 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 Israel.

[edit] Return to Israel

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.

In 1951-1952 (תשי"ב by the Jewish calendar) he published his book on the laws of Pesach titled 'Chazon Ovadia.' The book won much praise and received the approval of, among others, the two Chief Rabbis of Israel at that time, Rabbi Ben-Zion Meir Hai Uziel and Rabbi 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. In a letter which appears in the foreword of the second volume, Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Auerbach praised Rabbi Yosef as "one of the greatest Torah [scholars] which have risen among Israel in the last [few] generations" - an extraordinary statement given that Yosef was then only in his mid-thirties. In 1970, by which time 5 volumes had been published, Rabbi Yosef was awarded the Israel Prize for Torah literature for this work.

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.

[edit] Chief Rabbi of Israel

In 1973 Yosef was elected the Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Israel by a majority of 81 to 68 votes, replacing Rabbi 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 Rabbi Yosef and Rabbi Nissim. The tension between the two Rabbis began in the 1940s, when Rabbi 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 Rabbi Goren, and for some time Rabbi 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).

He currently lives in the Jerusalem neighbourhood of Har Nof.

[edit] Halakhic authority

Rabbi Yosef is generally considered one of the leading living halakhic authorities, particularly for Sephardi and Mizrahi Jews ("Maran").

Some of his more famous legal rulings include:

• That it is legitimate and permissible to give territory from the Land of Israel in order to achieve a genuine peace. When the Oslo Accords were followed by an intifada, this opinion was later retracted.^[4]

• That it is permissible for a Jew to marry a Karaite.

• A collective recognition of the Jewishness of the Beta Israel, after there was a suspicion that their conversion to Judaism was not in compliance with halakha.

• Allowing the wives of Israel Defense Force soldiers who have been missing in action for a long time to remarry, a verdict which is known as "the releasure of agunot" (התרת עגונות).

• That a woman should not wear a wig (sheitel) as a form of head covering, but should wear headscarves instead. (According to Jewish Law, Jewish married women must cover their hair in public for reasons of modesty). Many Ashkenazi Jews have the practice of wearing sheitels, while some wear a covering on top of the sheitel.

[edit] Political activity

[edit] Government influence

In 1990, Rabbi Yosef used his position as Shas spiritual leader to pressure Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir into agreeing to hold negotiations with Arab states for a peaceful settlement of the Arab-Israeli conflict. Shamir, a member of the Likud Party, refused to make any commitments.

According to one biography of the rabbi, Ben Porat Yosef, the relationship between the two had never been comfortable because of Shamir's unstudious personality. As a way of gaining a character analysis of politicians, Rabbi Yosef had invited both Shamir and Shimon Peres to learn Talmud with him. While Peres proved an engaging and fluid learner, Shamir was stoic toward the material, a trait that led Rabbi Yosef to instead use one of Shamir's cabinet members, Housing and Construction Minister David Levy, as his key partner in dealing with the Likud. Levy had a relatively warm relationship with the rabbi due to his moderate approach to Israel's security and foreign affairs policies, his charismatic personality, and his connection with Sephardi traditions (Levy, a Moroccan, was the highest ranking Sephardi politician in the 1980s).

In 1990, Rav Yosef pulled Shas out of the coalition with the Likud and attempted to form a partnership with Peres's left-centre Labour Party. The bold move, engineered but opposed by Shas chairman Aryeh Deri, backfired when the highly respected Ashkenazi rosh yeshiva (dean) of the Ponevezh Yeshiva in Bnei Brak, Rabbi Elazar Shach (who subsequently founded the Degel HaTorah party) fiercely commanded Rabbi Yosef to return Shas to the coalition with the Likud. During this time, Rabbi Yosef was severely criticised by other major members of the Haredi religious community in Israel, particular the Ashkenazic Jews who generally sided with the Likud and the right in opposition to the perceived secularist tendencies of Labour and the left.

The failure of the scheme, today called the "the dirty trick", or maneuver,^[5] was responsible for Peres' downfall as leader of Labour, and his 1991 defeat in internal elections to former Defense Minister Yitzhak Rabin. Since the 1980s, Rabbi Yosef has approved the participation by Shas in most Israeli governments, except for the last two governments of Ariel Sharon since January 2003. In the last Knesset, Shas was one of the few parties to have been in the opposition for the duration of that Knesset's term, along with the leftist Meretz party and the Arab factions Ra'am (United Arab List), Hadash, and Balad. This was largely because of the rise of Shinui to the powerful third party position, a position that was previously held by Shas. Shinui demanded to create a government without Shas.

In the 2007 Israeli Presidential election, Rabbi Yosef endorsed his long-time friend Shimon Peres, who ultimately won the election due in part to the support of Shas's 12 MKs.^[6]

[edit] Cultural influence

In a 2004 article by Maariv,^[7] Rabbi Yosef was mentioned as one of the most influential rabbis in Israel. He was described as:

The spiritual leader of Shas. The man most identified with the honorific title maran. He has considerable political strength, mainly because he controls the Knesset members of Shas.

However, the key influence of Rabbi Yossef is in the arena of Judaism, specifically in halakha.

In addition, he has great influence in teaching and endowing of his halakhic way. Jewish prayers according to Yosef's verdicts are the most common in Sephardic synagogues, and his halakhic books gained circulation beyond compare. Almost no one disputes the fact he is a Torah phenomenon, one of a kind. Despite this, he is "field rabbi" and goes down to the common people with countless sermons.

[edit] Position on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

Despite his controversial public comments, Rabbi Yosef has long been a distinguished rabbinical authority advocating peace negotiations in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and has done so since the late 1980s. His main justification is the halakhic principle of Pikuach Nefesh, in which all the Jewish commandments (excluding adultery, idolatry, and murder) are put on hold if a life is put in danger. Using an argument first articulated by the late American rabbinical leader Joseph Soloveitchik, Rabbi Yosef claims that the Arab-Israeli conflict endangers human lives, thereby meeting the above criteria and overruling the priority of commandments pertaining to settling the land of Israel.^[8] Therefore, Israel is permitted — even obligated if saving lives is a definitive outcome — to make serious efforts to reach a peace settlement as well as to make arrangements to properly protect its citizens.^[9][10] Rabbi 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. Some claimed, however, that the ruling was also motivated by Rabbi Yosef's desire to oppose his Ashkenazi colleague, Rabbi Shlomo Goren.^[11]

Using this precedent, Rabbi Yosef instructed Shas to join Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin's government coalition, and later that of Ehud Barak as well. However, Shas abstained on Oslo I and voted against the Oslo II agreement. Furthermore, as Oslo stalled and relations between Israelis and Palestinians began to deteriorate, and particularly following the outbreak of the Al-Aqsa Intifada, Rabbi Yosef and the party pulled "rightward", supporting the Likud.

In 2005, Rabbi Yosef repeatedly condemned the Gaza Disengagement. He argued that he was opposed to any unilateral action that occurred outside the framework of a peace agreement. Rabbi 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.^[12] In contrast to some of his rabbinical colleagues, such as Rabbi Yosef Sholom Eliashiv, Rabbi Yosef refused to entertain the idea of holding a referendum on the disengagement, and instructed his MKs to vote against the plan when it came up in the Knesset.

Rabbi Yosef still maintains that Pikuach Nefesh applies to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and supports negotiations with the Palestinians. However, he no longer appears totally convinced that diplomacy with the present leadership can necessarily end the violence. Some media analysts have suggested that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert may be able to convince the rabbi to sign on to further unilateral actions by the government if concerted efforts toward negotiation fail.^[13]

[edit] Criticism and Controversy

Both during and after his term as Chief Rabbi, and continuing today, there is much criticism of Ovadia Yosef. Critics have questioned his theodicy, his halakhic rulings, and actions as spiritual leader of Shas.

[edit] Assassination attempt

In April 2005, Israeli security services arrested three members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), who had been observing Rabbi Yosef in public and were^[update] held on the suspicion of intended murder.^[14] One, Musa Darwish, was convicted on 15 December 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.^[15]

[edit] Awards

In 1970, Rabbi Yosef was awarded the Israel Prize, for Rabbinical literature.^[16]

[edit] Published works

Among Rabbi Yosef's earliest works was a detailed commentary on the Ben Ish Chai titled Halikhot Olam. He was asked to finish the commentary Kaf Ha'Chaim by Rabbi Yaakov Chaim Sofer after the author's death. Two sets of Rabbi Yosef's responsa have been published, Yabia Omer and Yechavei Da'ath (both titles are references to Psalm 19). His responsa are noted for citing almost every source regarding a specific topic and are often referred to simply as indices of rulings. There is also another series of books under the title of Chazon Ovadia (not to be mistaken with the original books which were responsa on Passover), which he has written laws concerning the sabbath, holidays and other topics.

Rabbi Yosef has printed a commentary on the Mishnah tractate Pirkei Avot ("Ethics of the Fathers") under the title, Anaf Etz Avot, and Maor Israel, a commentary on various parts of the Talmud. His son, Rabbi Yitzchak Yosef, has published a widely-read codification of Rabbi Yosef's rulings entitled Yalkut Yosef. Another son, Rabbi David Yosef, has printed various siddurim and liturgy according to Rabbi Yosef's rulings, and another halachic compendium entitled [[Halachah Berurah]].

[edit] Secondary Works

• Nitzan Chen and Anshel Pfeffer, Maran Ovadia Yosef: Habiografia (Rabbi Ovadia Yosef: The Biography): Jerusalem 2004
• R. Benny Lau, Mimaran ad Maran: Mishnato ha-Hilkhatit shel ha-Rav Ovadiah Yosef (From R. Yosef Karo to R. Ovadiah Yosef: The Halachic Teaching of Rabbi Ovadia Yosef): Tel Aviv 2005
• Zvi Aloush and Yossi Elituv, Hayyav, Mishnato u-Mahalkhav ha-Politiyim shel ha-Rav Ovadiah Yosef (The Life, Teaching and Political Activities of Rabbi Ovadia Yosef): Or Yehudah 2004
• Mi-Yosef ad Yosef Lo Kam ke-Yosef (From Yosef to Yosef arose none like Yosef): review of all three books by Marc B. Shapiro
• Review of the Chen and Pfeffer book by Rabbi Benjamin Lau (Friday, October 1, 2004 Ha'aretz)
• Y. Choueka, Pirkei Hayim, a biography of Rabbi Aharon Choueka and his Yeshiva, Ahava VeAchva, in Minhat Aharon, Y. Choueka and Haym Sabato (Eds.), Jerusalem, 1980, 15-32. (Hebrew)
• Zion Zohar, Oriental Jewry Confronts Modernity-The Case of Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef, Modern Judaism - Volume 24, Number 2, May 2004, pp. 120-149.

[edit] See also

• Avraham Yosef
• Yaakov Yosef
• Yitzhak Yosef
• List of Israel Prize recipients

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Ovadia Yosef

• Maran - a website containing videos of sermons given by Rabbi Ovadia Yosef
• Halacha Yomit - a website containing daily Halacha given by Rabbi Ovadia Yosef
• Time Magazine Overview of controversial Rabbi Yosef moments
• Rabbi Ovadia Yosef painting
• Rabbi Ovadia Yosef and his "Culture War" in Israel, from Middle East Review of International Affairs, 4:4, December 2000.
• Land vs. Life, from [Netivot Shalom], April 2003.
• Conquest of Land in Erez Yisrael, from [Mail.Jewish Mailing List], March 1993.