Community Magazine October 2014

Life Giant the Chronicling of a MARAN , the latest volume from Yehuda Azoulay’s Sephardic Legacy Series, takes a deep, rich, and exhaustive look into the life and influence of Hacham Ovadia Yosef. H 28 Community magazine acham Ovadia Yosef – arguably the most influential rabbi of the modern era – was a unifier of Sephardic custom, dayan , noted posek , scholar, author of 53 books, political leader of the Shas party, esteemed lecturer, Chief Rabbi, and much more. Affectionately referred to by many as Maran – or “our master” – Hacham Ovadia Yosef was a man of extraordinary scholarship whose single-handed enhancements to Sephardic culture are legendary. The 93-year-old Baghdad-born icon departed this world a year ago, on the 3rd of Heshvan, October 7, 2013, leaving behind a legacy of inspiration and guidance that continues to impact untold numbers of Jews. His funeral is believed to have been the largest in modern history, with an estimated 800,000 participants and another 200,000 thought to have been unable to squeeze in. “It really reflects how many people he impacted,” says Yehuda Azoulay, author of the newly-released tome on the Torah giant. The latest volume from Yehuda Azoulay’s Sephardic Legacy Series – weighing in at nearly 700 pages – takes the reader on a fascinating journey through the work of one of history’s greatest Torah personalities. “Like Nothing I Have Seen” Entitled Maran – The Life and Scholarship of Hacham Ovadia Yosef , the detailed volume culls, for the first time, the reflections of rabbis, politicians, educators, family members, disciples, and even critics on this extraordinary figure. “When I attended his famous Saturday night lectures when I was 18 years old in yeshiva,” Azoulay writes, “…I was awed by the sensitivity, humor and scholarship of this great man at that time … I said to myself, ‘One day I want to write about him.’ Finally, it’s here.” What he is most enthusiastic about is the “originality of the book and the research,” touting six years of toil, with some 80 reference books researched specifically for the project, including 28 Hebrew biographies. “We read everything: online, and even controversial,” says Azoulay. He relates that he and fellow researcher Rabbi Shai Cabessa combed through Hacham Ovadia Yosef’s 53 published works to bring to light a myriad of information, anecdotes and rulings. The result is a monumental volume that adds invaluable background and insight into Hacham Ovadia Yosef’s life that would have otherwise never become public. DAVE GORDON