Community Magazine October 2014

sincerity and the gravity of the moment, and some of them were said to have welled up. President Jacques Chirac said about this memorable occasion, “I received a wonderful letter from the French police force. They wrote that the Jewish ‘pope’ is a very special person. They wrote that he has a caring, sensitive heart, that he treats every person with great honor, and that he thanks anyone who helps him.” Such was the impact that the hacham had on Jews and gentiles alike. The Posek Hador – Leading Halachic Decisor of the Generation Among the distinctive qualities of Hacham Ovadia’s approach to halachic decision-making – alongside his truly extraordinary, encyclopedic knowledge of Talmudic literature – was his sensitivity to the need to make halachah observance accessible to the general public. He feared that unnecessarily stringent rulings would cause widespread disillusionment and rejection of the authority of halachah. And thus while many of his contemporaries championed the approach of stringency in an effort to satisfy all differing opinions, the hacham felt that to the contrary, lenient positions should be accepted when appropriate in order to encourage the masses to embrace a halachic lifestyle. One example, among many hundreds, is his ruling that although it is best for a man not to shave, one may shave as long as the hair roots are not removed. Additionally, Hacham Ovadia worked to uphold the Sephardic halachic tradition, which he feared people were abandoning in favor of the Ashkenazic halachic rulings, which are often at odds with Sephardic practice. Thus, for example, he famously ruled that although among many Ashkenazic circles it is customary for married women to wear wigs, this was forbidden according to Sephardic practice, and women should cover their hair with hats or scarves, instead. Hacham Ovadia made it a life mission to unify Sephardic Jewry under the authority of Rabbi Yosef Karo, author of the 16-the century halachic code Shulhan Aruch , who is regarded as the chief halachic authority for the Land of Israel. He urged people to accept the rulings of the Shulhan Aruch , and succeeded in having Sephardic yeshivot use it as the basis of their halachic study. Hacham Ovadia was committed to enhancing religious observance among the masses, rather than allowing it to remain the exclusive province of the scholarly elite. To that end, he ruled that it was a mitzvah for siddurim to offer translations of the prayer text so that people can understand what they are reciting. The need to lovingly reach out to nonobservant Jews was another driving force behind his halachic approach. Thus, for example, he ruled that synagogues may call to the Torah on Shabbat men who were not Shabbat observant (as long as seven observant men were called, as well). Hacham Ovadia was called upon to address scores of questions that arose with the advent of advances in medicine and technology. Among his many important rulings was his 1996 decision that organ donation is a mitzvah , and a 2002 ruling forbidding experimentation on animals in the cosmetic industry. The Hacham with World Leaders Hacham Ovadia Yosef’s reputation and gravitas allowed him the opportunity to interact with some of modern history’s most famous heads of state. When meeting King Carlos of Spain, Hacham Ovadia explained to the king why Sephardic Jewry goes by the word “Sepharadim,” which means “Spanish.” Although Sephardic Jews hail from Middle Eastern and North African countries, they are known as “Sepharadim” because they received their guidance from the Rambam, a Spanish native. Numerous Israeli politicians – including Prime Ministers – developed close friendships with the hacham that transcended politics, and they held him in genuinely high esteem. One such figure was former Prime Minister and President Shimon Peres, who knew Hacham Ovadia for many decades, studied with him, and treated him with great respect. In fact, Azoulay quotes Peres as saying, “I myself felt that a Torah sage is deserving of more honor than a president so I deviated from the generally accepted custom and went to visit him myself, instead of expecting him to come to me.” “An honest, straight man,” was how Hacham Ovadia Yosef described Former Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, who consulted with the Chief Rabbi on a biweekly basis. The book also tells of the most unlikely relationship which the hacham had with another world leader. Nearly 30 years ago, Hacham Ovadia met with then Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to protest the construction of a highway directly over a Jewish cemetery where Torah sages were interred. With a sensitive ear, Mubarak agreed to change the highway route, recognizing the potential disgrace to the departed Jews buried in the graveyard. A gifted educator and statesman, Hacham Ovadia Yosef was admired by people of many different types. He touched the lives of Jews of all backgrounds, from towering scholars to otherwise unaffiliated Jews. He spoke to both the observant and secular populations, bringing greater Torah understanding to the masses. For the majority of his 93 years, Hacham Ovadia Yosef successfully stemmed the tide of assimilation, and inspired a historic process of Sephardic renewal, both in Israel and around the world. “What stuck out for me,” says Azoulay, “are his original thoughts, and he stood up for what was right. I admire that. He had a great mind, and with that, he could have called it a day. But he didn’t.” Those who pick up Maran – The life and Scholarship of Hacham Ovadia Yosef will find it difficult to put down – and will begin to understand why Hacham Ovadia Yosef is regarded as one of the greatest Torah leaders in Jewish history. tishrei 5775 october 2014 31 Hacham Ovadia giving hizuk to Israeli soldiers. The young Rabbi Ovadia Yosef giving a shiur in the Shaul Tzadkah Synagogue in Bet Yisrael, Jerusalem neighborhood. Maran with his father-in-law, Hacham Avraham Phatal. Learning in the hospital.