Yitzhak Yosef facts for kids
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Yosef in 2016
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| Religion | Judaism |
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| Alma mater | Hebron Yeshiva (Knesset Yisrael), Porat Yosef Yeshiva |
Quick facts for kids Personal |
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| Nationality |  Israel |
| Born | January 16, 1952 Jerusalem, Israel |
| Spouse | Ruth Yosef |
| Parents |
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| Senior posting | |
| Title | Rishon LeZion Chief Rabbi of Israel |
| Predecessor | Shlomo Amar |
| Successor | David Yosef |
| Position | Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel |
| Organisation | Chief Rabbinate of Israel |
| Began | 2013 |
| Ended | June 30, 2024 |
| Other | Rosh yeshiva of Yeshivat Hazon Ovadia |
Yitzhak Yosef (Hebrew: יצחק יוסף; born January 16, 1952) is an Israeli Haredi rabbi. The former Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel, he also serves as the rosh yeshiva of Yeshivat Hazon Ovadia in Jerusalem's Romema neighborhood.
Yosef, the son of former chief rabbi Ovadia Yosef, bases his halakhic (Jewish law) rulings on his father's methodology, which he compiled into a set of books called Yalkut Yosef.
Contents
Early life
Yitzhak Yosef was born and raised in Jerusalem. He is the sixth son of the former Israeli Chief Rabbi and Shas spiritual leader Ovadia Yosef. He attended school at Talmud Torah Yavneh in the Independent Education System. At age 12 he began his studies at the mesivta (high school) of Porat Yosef in the Katamon neighbourhood. He did not finish high school, and called secular studies "nonsense". After that, he studied at Yeshivat HaNegev in Netivot, and from there he moved on to Hebron Yeshiva in Jerusalem.
In 1971, when he was 18 and studying at Yeshivat HaNegev, Yosef collected halakhic (Jewish law) rulings from the five volumes of then-in-print Yabia Omer, his father's responsa, and published them in a work called Yalkut Yosef. The book was published with his father's support and supervision. It is often considered one of his father's works, since not only is it a summary of his father's rulings, but the latter also went over it section by section and added his own comments. Yosef won the Rabbi Toledano Prize for Torah Literature from the Tel Aviv Religious Council for his book Issur VeHeter, as well as the Rabbi Kook Prize for Torah Literature.
Rabbinic career
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In 1973, upon his father's election as Chief Rabbi of Israel, they together established Yeshivat Hazon Ovadia and its kollel (advanced studies department). In 1980, he and the rest of the first graduating class were ordained as rabbis and dayanim (rabbinic judges) by Shalom Messas and the chief rabbis of Israel. With the beginning of the second class, he was appointed head of the school.
In 1975, Yosef was appointed rabbi of Nes Harim and Mata, moshavim (villages) in the vicinity of Jerusalem. As part of his responsibilities, he taught classes on halakha several times a week and took care of other religious matters. He gave lectures and taught classes in the secular public schools and strengthened religious education there.
In 1992 Yosef expanded Hazon Ovadia to include a boys high school. This was necessary because of discord between the Sephardi Haredi and Ashkenazi Litvak yeshiva communities.
On July 24, 2013, Yosef was elected as Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel and the Rishon LeZion, a position he would hold for a decade. The ceremony took place on August 14, 2013, at the official residence of the President of Israel.
Through the death of Yosef's father, the Shas political party lost its spiritual leader. Having been elected Sephardi Chief Rabbi, Yosef appeared to be in a good position to inherit his father's mantle as Shas spiritual leader. However, his public position precluded such political activity by law. Until the election, he never held any formal public office.
On August 21, 2013, Yosef released a psak halakha (ruling) stating it is an obligation and mitzvah (good deed) for parents to have their children vaccinated for polio virus. In 2021, he endorsed the Alliance of Rabbis in Islamic States and serves as its halakhic guide.
Personal life
Yosef is married to Ruth, daughter of the kabbalist Rachamim Attia. They have five children. His eldest son, named after his father Ovadia, is married to the daughter of Shlomo Amar, his predecessor as Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Israel. His daughter Margalit is married to the son of Yehuda Deri, the Chief Rabbi of Be'er Sheva. His youngest daughter is married to the son of Meir Sage. Yosef lives in the Sanhedria Murhevet neighborhood of Jerusalem.
See also
In Spanish: Yitzhak Yosef para niños
