Ovadia Yosef

Ovadia Yosef
עובדיה יוסף
Yosef in the synagogue below his house
TitleRishon LeZion
Personal life
BornSeptember 24, 1920
DiedOctober 7, 2013(2013-10-07) (aged 93)
Jerusalem, Israel
BuriedSanhedria Cemetery
NationalityIsraeli
SpouseMargalit Yosef (Fattal)
Children11, including Yitzhak Yosef, Ya'akov Yosef, David Yosef and Adina Bar-Shalom
Parent(s)Yaakov and Gorjiya Ovadia
DynastyYosef family
Alma materPorat Yosef Yeshiva
OccupationAuthor, Politician, Rabbi, Talmudic scholar, and recognized halakhic authority
Signature
Religious life
ReligionJudaism
DenominationSephardi Haredi Judaism
Jewish leader
PredecessorYitzhak Nissim
SuccessorMordechai Eliyahu
PositionSephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel
OrganisationChief Rabbinate of Israel
Began1972
Ended1983
OtherSephardi Chief Rabbi of Tel Aviv
Spiritual leader of the Shas political party
ResidenceJerusalem
DynastyYosef family
SemikhahBen Zion Hai Uziel

Ovadia Yosef (Hebrew: עובדיה יוסף, romanizedOvadya Yosef, Arabic: عبد الله يوسف, romanized‘Abd Allāh Yūsuf; September 24, 1920 – October 7, 2013), also known as Maran (Hebrew: מרן; lit.'Our Master'), was an Iraqi-born Talmudic scholar, hakham, posek, and the Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel from 1972 to 1983. Also known as Gadol Yisrael ("great one of Israel"), Yosef is regarded as one of the most influential Sephardic religious authorities of all time. He was also a founder and longtime spiritual leader of Israel's religious Shas party. Yosef's responsa were highly regarded in Haredi circles, particularly among Mizrahi communities, which considered him "the most important living halakhic authority".