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Rabbi Chain Ovadia Yosef, unarguably the greatest Sephardi Torah sage and one of the most influential political leaders of the past 40 years, died in Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital Monday after several months of deteriorating health. Hundreds of thousands of people are expected at his funeral, which will begin at 6 p.m. (11 a.m. EDT) at the Porat Yosef Yeshiva and he will be buried in the cemetery at Sanhedria in Jerusalem. Several main streets will be closed.

YouTube can certainly be an embarrassment of riches. Just last night I found these two re-enactments of the Seder shel Pesach: one Sefaradi, and one Temani (Yemenite). For the Sefaradi seder, click here. For the Temani seder, click here. Please note that these are re-enactments, as direct operation of electrical equipment is forbidden on yom tov. I'm sure there's much more available for viewing, but this should hold all interested FReepers for now. Wishing all a Pesach kasher vesameach!

While everyone's discussing the return of the Latin mass I've found an album of prayers and chants by Baghdadi Jews in Singapore. It's quite interesting and can be listened to at least once for free or purchased for download for $9.95. It's at free.napster.com. Here's the link if anyone's interested. Enjoy this taste of a rich, ancient, nearly extinct, and practically unknown world!