Rav of Congregation Shaarei Orah, the Sephardic Congregation of Teaneck
Last month we presented three reasons why we argue that Hacham Ovadia Yosef was the most influential Rav of the past hundred years. We spoke about his unparalleled memory and Torah knowledge, his excellence in ordinary psak halacha and his extraordinary ability as a Dayan (rabbinic judge). This week we continue and present two more reasons why we believe Rav Yosef was the greatest rav of the past generations.
Facet #4–Connecting with the Masses of Am Yisrael
Every truly great Gadol BeYisrael is not only successful in his discourse with Torah scholar, but isdistinguished for his ability to relate to the wide masses of the Jewish People. For example, both the Ben Ish Hai and the Hafetz Haim commanded the awe and respect of their peers as well as the broader Jewish community who flocked to hear the lectures of these two great rabbis. In the United States, the Lubavitcher Rebbe and Rav Yosef Dov Soloveitchik attracted the greatest scholars as well as thousands of ordinary Jews to their speeches.
The rousing Haskamot (rabbinic endorsements) of the first two volumes of Teshuvot Yabia Omer from the greatest Posekim alive in Yerushalayim in 1954 and 1955, Rav Zvi Pesach Frank, Rav Yitzchak Herzog, Rav Dov Ber Weidenfeld (author of Teshuvot Doveiv Meisharim), Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach and Rav Yosef Shalom Elyashiv testify as one hundred witnesses to the great respect to which Rav Yosef was held by the greatest of his older and contemporary rabbinic colleagues. The fact that nearly a million Jews attended Hacham Ovadia’s funeral stands in awesome testimony of the ability of Hacham Ovadia to connect with the masses of Jews. His radio broadcasts and his Motzoei Shabbat shiurim which were televised via closed circuit television worldwide attracted tens of thousands of devotees. I recall as a yeshiva student in Israel very much enjoying listening to Hacham Ovadia’s radio broadcasts on Friday afternoon. I, together with tens of thousands of listeners, was enthralled with his clear presentation and captivating charismatic manner.
Hacham Ovadia was able to move vast audiences to reach closer to Hashem and His Holy Torah. Tens of thousands of people would throng to hear Hacham Ovadia deliver words of inspiration before Selihot recited a few days before Kippur at the Kotel HaMa’aravi. Rav Yosef was able to deeply move audiences of thousands at motivational assemblies devoted to bring Jews back to their Torah roots. Hacham Ovadia knew how to connect with his audiences and brought warmth and a sense of humor that drew his audiences close to him and more important to allegiance to Torah. Hacham Ovadia took every opportunity that time and health permitted to speak throughout Israel and often throughout the world to bring his special words of inspiration and spiritual uplift to as many Jews as possible.
Hacham Ovadia was also extraordinarily successful in reaching the masses of Jews through his writings. In the 1980’s Hacham Ovadia created a new genre of halachic writing with his Teshuvot Yehave Da’at. These were simplified Teshuvot from which many people, ranging from extraordinary scholar to the average laymen, could prosper. Rav Yosef writes in an engaging, elegant and concise manner. The amount of substance Hacham Ovadia covers in a relatively short space is extraordinary. A prime example is Teshuvot Yehaveh Daat 1:75 where in only a few pages Rav Yosef succeeds in discussing and summarizing the great volume of halachic literature that addresses the question of whether to first recite Havdalah or light Hanukah candles on the Motza’ei Shabbat of Chanukah.
With the help of his son Hacham Yitzhak, the Yalkut Yosef was written. These lengthy volumes codify halachah for routine Jewish life and are summarized in two volumes of a Yalkut Yosef version of the Kitzur Shulhan Aruch. Hacham Ovadia’s Kitzur Shulhan Aruch has become a standard work in Sephardic synagogues and homes. This work renders halachic practice in contemporary life accessible to all. Anyone with even just a basic knowledge of Hebrew can easily access these two volumes for quick guidance for most halachic issues that a Jew will confront during his lifetime.
Finally, Rav Yosef, with help from his sons, has produced and advised Sephardic Siddurim such as Yehave Da’at and Ohr VaDerech that provide clear and concise halachic guidance for every Sephardic Jew. Thus, in his countless public lectures and dozens of Sefarim was able to connect with hundreds of thousands of Jews.
Facet #5–Hazarat Atarah LeYoshenah: Restoring the Prestige of Sephardic Jewry
The 20th century was a time of great upheaval for most of Sephardic Jewry. Sepharadim who had been living continuously in Arab countries for many centuries found themselves uprooted by entirely unjustified Arab violence in the wake of the United Nations decision in 1947 to partition Eretz Yisrael into Jewish and Arab States. Upon arrival in Israel and elsewhere, Sephardic Jews unfortunately found that their age old and venerated halachic practices and customs were often not accorded proper respect.
Rav Ovadia Yosef led a movement LeHahzir Atarah LeYoshenah, to restore the crown of the majestic Sephardic tradition to its original and rightful prestige. Three examples of Rav Ovadia’s Teshuvot Yabia Omer illustrate what is involved in this monumental project. In Yabia Omer 6: Orah Haim 10, Hacham Ovadia responds (in 1970) to a question regarding the Nusah of prayer at the Yeshiva High School in Afula. More than 90% of the students were Sephardic but yet the Tefillah at the school was conducted utilizing nusach Sefarad (the Nusah commonly used by Ashkenazic Chassidic Jews which is primarily the Ashkenazic text with some Sephardic practices incorporated). The argument was made that this nusach prepares the students for service in Tzahal and learning in Yeshivot Bnei Akiva where the tefilah is (in those years) conducted using a similar Nusah designed to accommodate the mix of Sephardic and Ashkenazic Jews in these venues.
Hacham Ovadia forcefully responds that since the overwhelming majority of the students in the Afula Yeshiva High School hailed from Sephardic families, proper Sephardic Siddurim should be used and Sephardic customs observed. He writes that it is the responsibility of administrators and teachers LeHahzir Atarah LeYoshenah to teach Sephardic students to take pride in their Sephardic heritage and observe Sephardic practices and customs.
Teshuvot Yabia Omer 10: Even HaEzer 34:6 records a heartrending story of a woman scheduled to remarry whose first get was not recognized by the Beit Din of Petah Tikvah in 1957. The get was conducted in Baghdad, Iraq before the woman made Aliyah to Eretz Yisrael. A Dayan who is not Sephardic sat with Hacham Ovadia (the Av Beit Din of Petah Tikvah, the venerable Rav Reuven Katz, was sick and unable to attend that Beit Din that day) and argued that the get was invalid due to improper transliteration of the husband’s name Victor. Hacham Ovadia argued vociferously for the Kashrut of the get since it was transliterated properly according to Sephardic tradition. The Beit Din was deadlocked and the non-Sephardic Dayan ordered the woman to postpone her marriage. The woman cried in desperation, since her wedding was scheduled for that very day! Hacham Ovadia vigorously defended the validity of the get and even resigned from the Beit Din in protest of his colleague’s intransigence.
When Rav Katz recovered and returned to the Beit Din, he sustained Hacham Ovadia’s ruling and arranged for the marriage to take place as soon as possible. He also apologized to both the woman and Hacham Ovadia and then convinced him to return to the Beit Din. Hacham Ovadia concludes, “This incident is carved in my heart all these years since then until now (the tenth volume of Yabia Omer was published in 2004) and a wise individual should listen and derive a lesson.”
It is remarkable that even at a relatively young age (he was 37 in 1957) Hacham Ovadia was willing to defend Sephardic practice in the face of opposition of older colleagues. Another example of such courage at an early age is recorded in Teshuvot Yabia Omer 6: Even HaEzer 11, in which Rav Yosef requested a replacement get be sent by the venerable Rav Eliezer Silver of Cincinnati, Ohio. Rav Silver was a great and forceful personality, but Rav Ovadia stood his ground in asking for Rav Silver to write a new get in conformity with the accepted customs of Eretz Yisrael (a get should be written in accordance with the customs of the locale in which it is delivered, Beit Shmuel 129:2).
On a personal note, when I met Hacham Ovadia to receive his authorization to administer Gittin in 1993, he strongly urged me to administer Gittin for divorcing Sepharadim in accordance with Sephardic practice and to master the rules of transliterating Arabic and other names in accordance with Sephardic standards as set forth in halachic works such as the Sheim Hadash.
A final example may be found in Teshuvot Yabia Omer 6 Even HaEzer 14. In 1950, the Sephardic and Ashkenazic Chief Rabbis, Rav Ben Zion Uzziel and Rav Yitzhak Herzog made a number of takanot (enactments) to unify the Jewish People, such the acceptance of Heirem DeRabbeinu Gershon forbidding polygamy. Included in the takanot was an agreement that all Jews would eschew Yibbum in all circumstances and opt for Halitzah instead when relevant God forbid.
Hacham Ovadia notes, however, the Sephardic Jews have accepted the rulings of Rambam and the Shulhan Aruch that Yibbum is preferred and to be encouraged. In 1951, at the age of 31, Rav Yosef courageously upheld Sephardic tradition and ruled that the takanah of the Chief Rabbis is invalid. Rav Yosef did not make this ruling in a vacuum–he issued it acting as a Dayan on the Beit Din of Petah Tikvah in an actual case. The Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem, Rav Shalom Messas (Teshuvot Shemesh UMagen), supported Rav Yosef’s bold ruling and followed it in practice in actual Beit Din situations.
By Rabbi Haim Jachter
