Yahrtzeit Yomi #1242!!

ג חשון

Harav Ovadia Yosef

רב עובדיה יוסף ב״ר יעקב

ראשון לציון

(1920 - 2013)
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Maran HaRav Ovadiah Yosef ZTL

Today, ג׳ חשון, marks the 11th yahrtzeit of Maran Harav Ovadia Yosef ZTL, the revered Gaon and Posek, who restored the crown of Sephardic Jewry.

He had a mind big enough to master all of Torah.

A spirit big enough to lead his beloved people.

And a heart big enough to contain all of Klal Yisroel.

The brilliant Gaon was an unyielding warrior for Torah.

As a young Rabbi in Cairo, he courageously stood firm for Halacha - even as a gun was pointed at his head. In the early days of the State of Israel, he struggled to bring his Sephardic brethren back to the magnificent Torah traditions that many were abandoning with terrifying haste.

Maran’s encyclopedic knowledge was breathtaking and unparalleled. In his scores of brilliant sefarim, he “restored the Crown to its Glory“, fighting the battles of Torah and maintaining the preeminence of Maran Beit Yosef.

As unyielding as Maran was in defense of Torah, so was he compassionate in personal encounters. He loved all Jews, and they loved him. He was a loving father to all those in distress, and the main address for the thorniest of problems facing his brethren.

Perhaps *the story that best captures Maran’s dedication to those in need is one that occurred approximately 14 years prior to his passing:

Maran wasn’t feeling well one day, and his son Rav David and R’ Aryeh Deri took him to the hospital to be examined. The doctors determined that he had suffered a heart attack, and they told him that he needed an emergency stent procedure to open his arteries.

״אני צריך לחזור הביתה שלש שעות״,

“I need to go home for three hours”, was Maran’s immediate reply. “Then I’ll return for the procedure.”

Rav David and R’ Aryeh were concerned that the delay would be dangerous, and they tried to dissuade him from leaving the hospital.

“Why does the Rav need three hours?” R’ Aryeh asked.

“I’m not sure that I’ll come out of this procedure alive,” Maran explained, “and I’m in the middle of writing a teshuva to free an aguna. If I don’t finish writing the teshuva, who will take responsibility to release this woman from her loneliness?”

They brought him home, and he finished writing the teshuva permitting the aguna to remarry. Only then did he return to the hospital for the lifesaving procedure!!

יהי זכרו ברוך, ‏זכותו יגן עלינו!!

*this story was told by Rav David Yosef at Maran ZTL’s funeral.