Free Republic

Over a half a million people were attending the funeral of Rabbi Ovadia Yosef Monday night in Jerusalem. Rabbi Yosef, 93, passed away earlier in the day. The crowd, observers said, consisted of a cross-section of Israelis, from hareidi to Religious Zionist to secular. Eulogies were being held at the Porat Yosef yeshiva in the Geula neighborhood. Dozens of speakers will eulogize the rabbi. Among the first to speak was Rabbi Yitzchak Yosef, one of Rabbi Yosef's sons and current Chief Sephardic Rabbi of Israel. In a heart-wrenching voice, Rabbi Yitzchak Yosef spoke of his father, saying that “from the...

Ovadia Yosef Frees Man Who Tried to Kill Him By Nathan Jeffay December 14, 2011, 1:03pm What would be your attitude toward someone who had plotted to kill you? I can't help thinking that I'd be more than a little broiges. You would imagine that the stakes are upped a little when the target of the murder plot is the former Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel Ovadia Yosef, spiritual leader of the Shas party. After all, his would-be murderer was planning his death as an act of terrorism, and Yosef famously said in 2001 that it is "forbidden to be...

JERUSALEM (JTA) -- Israeli Sephardic leader Rabbi Ovadia Yosef in his weekly Saturday night sermon said that non-Jews exist to serve Jews. “Goyim were born only to serve us. Without that, they have no place in the world; only to serve the People of Israel,” he said during a public discussion of what kind of work non-Jews are allowed to perform on Shabbat. "Why are gentiles needed? They will work, they will plow, they will reap. We will sit like an effendi and eat," he said to some laughter. Yosef, the spiritual leader of the Shas Party and the former...

Rabbi Yosef Explains His Opposition to a Referendum 06:35 Feb 10, '05 / 1 Adar 5765 (IsraelNN.com) Shas spiritual leader Rabbi Ovadia Yosef remains opposed to a national referendum on the Gaza Disengagement Plan issue, explaining the people do not have the tools to make such a decision. Rabbi Yosef explains that the decision must be based on security considerations – weighing if the implementation of the plan will save Jewish lives or contribute to increased warfare. Rabbi Yosef explains that nothing else comes into play regarding his decision-making process. “What do the people understand about security?” he questions, adding...

Feb. 9, 2005 4:33 | Updated Feb. 9, 2005 6:36 Yosef opposes referendum on pullout By GIL HOFFMAN Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz shows Shas spiritual leader Rabbi Ovadia Yosef the map of the disengagement plan to try and convince him to support the plan Photo: Ariel Jerozolimski Shas mentor Rabbi Ovadia Yosef decided on Tuesday to oppose a national referendum on Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's unilateral disengagement plan, declining to follow the lead of Degel Hatorah mentor Rabbi Shalom Yosef Elyashiv. Elyashiv stunned his rabbinical cohorts on Monday when he endorsed Knesset Law Committee chairman Michael Eitan's referendum bill. Degel...