Chacham Ovadiah Yosef

Early years

Chacham Ovadiah Yosef zt"l was born in Baghdad on September 24, 1920, to Yaakov Ovadiah and his wife Gorgia. His Arabic name was Abdullah Youssef. When he was four years old the family moved to Yerushalayim, where they took the surname Ovadia. Later in life he made his middle name, Yosef, his surname, so that people would not call him Ovadia Ovadia.

As a teenager he learned at the Porat Yosef Yeshiva, where he reached the highest class, taught by the rosh yeshiva, Rav Ezra Attiya. It is told that the diligent young scholar suddenly stopped coming to yeshiva for several days. Rav Ezra went to his home and was shocked by the poverty he found there. The boy's father explained that he ran a small grocery and needed his son to work in it. Rav Ezra tried to convince him how important Torah learning was, but he could not.

The next morning the father walked into his store and found Rav Ezra standing behind the counter in a work apron. The rosh yeshiva explained that he had come early, while the boy was opening up, and had sent him back to yeshiva, promising to fill in himself without pay. The father had said he needed help and could not afford it, and now he had it, because Rav Ezra felt that the boy's learning was worth far more than his own time. At last the father agreed to let his son keep learning.

Chacham Ovadiah received semichah at the age of twenty. He formed lasting friendships with classmates who went on to become leaders of the Sephardi world: Rav Ben Zion Abba Shaul, Rav Baruch Ben Haim, Rav Yehuda Moallem and Rav Zion Levy.

Torah and leadership

In 1947 Rav Aharon Choueka, founder of the yeshiva Ahavah VeAchvah, invited Chacham Ovadiah to Cairo to teach there. At the request of Rav Ben-Zion Meir Hai Uziel he also served as head of the Cairo beis din. He found that religious observance was weak, both among the Jewish community at large and among its leaders, including the local rabbanim. The lack of any organised system of kashrus was a major halachic problem, and it brought him into conflict with members of the community. Two years after he arrived he resigned, and about a year later he returned to what had in the meantime become the State of Israel.

Back in Israel he learned at the midrash Bnei Zion, then headed by Rav Tzvi Pesach Frank, and served on the beis din in Petach Tikva. His boldness as a posek showed already in his first term as a dayan. At the age of thirty he wrote a ruling permitting yibbum (levirate marriage) in place of chalitzah, even though the Chief Rabbinate had forbidden yibbum a year earlier.

Around 1951–1952 (5712) he published Chazon Ovadia, on the laws of Pesach. It was widely praised and received the approbation of both Chief Rabbis of the time, Rav Ben-Zion Meir Hai Uziel and Rav Yitzchok HaLevi Herzog. Two years later he founded the Or HaTorah yeshiva for gifted Sephardi students. It did not stay open long, but it was the first of many yeshivos he established, later with the help of his sons, to strengthen Torah education among Sephardi Jews and prepare leaders for the next generations. In 1953–1954 and 1955–1956 he published the first two volumes of his major work, Yabia Omer, which was also highly praised.

From 1958 to 1965 he served as a dayan on the Yerushalayim district beis din. He was then appointed to the Supreme Rabbinical Court of Appeals in Yerushalayim, and in 1968 became Chief Sephardi Rabbi of Tel Aviv, a position he held until his election as Chief Sephardi Rabbi of Israel in 1973.

Chief Rabbi of Israel

In 1973 Chacham Ovadiah was elected Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel by a vote of 81 to 68, replacing Rav Yitzchok Nissim. His candidacy was controversial because he was running against the sitting Chief Rabbi, and the election was marked by tension and political controversy, partly over the ruling known as the Psak Din of the Brother and Sister. The tension between the two rabbanim went back to the 1940s, when Chacham Ovadiah openly disagreed with halachic rulings of the Ben Ish Chai.

In the same election Rav Shlomo Goren became the Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi, and the relationship between the two Chief Rabbis was difficult. The Council of the Chief Rabbinate was controlled by Rav Goren, and for some time Chacham Ovadiah concluded that there was no point in attending its sessions. During his years in office, which lasted until 1983, he dealt with many important social and halachic questions.

Teachings and seforim

Chacham Ovadiah's decisions and responsa influenced an entire generation of Sephardi rabbanim, and Torah scholars across the spectrum often consult them. Within chareidi circles, and especially among Sephardi communities, he was regarded as the most important halachic authority of his time. He was also the founder and long-time spiritual leader of Israel's Shas party.

When he taught Pirkei Avos, it was his custom to illustrate a Mishnah with a story about earlier tzaddikim and talmidei chachamim.

Later years and passing

Chacham Ovadiah passed away on 3 Cheshvan 5774 (October 7, 2013) in Yerushalayim.