Maran Rav Ovadia Yosef zt"l, the Yabia Omer
Rav Ovadia Yosef zt"l
מרן הרב עובדיה יוסף זצ״ל
Upcoming yahrzeit: 3 November 2027 (5788)
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Maran Rav Ovadia Yosef zt"l was born on 12 Tishrei 5681 (24 September 1920) in Baghdad, to Yaakov and Georgia (Gurjiya). He was named Ovadia after Rav Abdallah Somech and Yosef after the Ben Ish Chai. In 1924, when he was four, the family came to Yerushalayim and settled in Beis Yisrael. He learned in Talmud Torah Bnei Zion and, from 1933, in Yeshivas Porat Yosef, where his rebbi and mentor was Hacham Ezra Attiya zt"l, the rosh yeshiva. He received semicha as a young man; sources record semicha from Rav Ben-Zion Meir Hai Uziel zt"l.
He served for a short time as a rav and av beis din in Cairo, then returned to Eretz Yisroel. He published Chazon Ovadia on Hilchos Pesach, and then the volumes of Yabia Omer, his great work of teshuvos, and later Yechaveh Daat. He served as a dayan, as Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Tel Aviv, and from 1972 to 1983 as Rishon LeZion, the Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Yisrael. He is remembered as the leading posek of Sephardi Jewry in his generation, with the call “to restore the crown to its former glory” — to rule according to Maran, the Beis Yosef. He was also the spiritual leader of the Shas party; this page is about his Torah and his kever, not about politics.
He was niftar on 3 Cheshvan 5774 (7 October 2013) in Yerushalayim. A very large levayah accompanied him; estimates of the crowd differ, from some hundreds of thousands to around 850,000. He rests beside the Rabbanit in the Sanhedria cemetery in Yerushalayim. Your kvittel will be brought to his kever.
Historical background
In the years when large Sephardi communities took root in the State of Israel, Rav Ovadia Yosef zt"l became their leading posek, and later the Rishon LeZion. His seforim, especially Yabia Omer and Yechaveh Daat, are learned throughout the Sephardi world, and his kever in Sanhedria is a makom tefillah.
Before & after
Who came before
- The Beis Yosef, Rabbi Yosef Karo zy"a — The posek he held as mara d'atra of Eretz Yisroel, and the “crown” he sought to restore.
- Hacham Ezra Attiya zt"l — His rebbi at Porat Yosef, who encouraged him to continue writing and ruling according to his understanding.
- Rav Yitzhak Nissim zt"l — The previous Rishon LeZion, whom he succeeded in 1972.
Who came after
- Rav Mordechai Eliyahu zt"l — He succeeded Rav Ovadia Yosef zt"l as Rishon LeZion.
In his dor
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Sources
The facts on this page come from the earlier site and from the sources listed here. Where the sources are not one shittah, it is written in the text.
- Wikipedia: Ovadia Yosef (Maran; 12 Tishrei 5681 / 24 September 1920 – 3 Cheshvan 5774 / 7 October 2013); buried in the Sanhedria Cemetery, Jerusalem; Yabia Omer, Yechaveh Daat, Chazon Ovadia
- The New York Times, 7 October 2013: Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, Influential Spiritual Leader in Israel, Dies at 93. Isabel Kershner.
- Hacham Ovadia Yosef, The Daily Sage (hyomi.org.il) — birth 12 Tishrei 5681 in Baghdad; petirah 3 Cheshvan 5774; buried in the Sanhedria cemetery; mentor Hacham Ezra Attiya
- Hidabroot: Rabbi Ovadia Yosef — Life, Legacy, and Leadership. Birth 12 Tishrei 5681; seforim including Yabia Omer; levayah estimates; Sanhedria Cemetery
- Hebcal date converter (Hebrew–Gregorian yahrzeit dates, including 5787)
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