Influential Israel rabbi Ovadia dies
9 Oct 2013 4:20 AM IST
Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, the religious scholar and spiritual leader of Israel’s Sephardic Jews who transformed his downtrodden community of immigrants from North Africa and Arab nations and their descendants into a powerful force in Israeli politics, has died. He was 93.
Yosef had been hospitalized in critical condition for several days. Officials at the Jerusalem hospital that treated him announced his death. His prominence helped boost the confidence of his community, which makes up roughly half of Israel’s population but was long impoverished by Ashkenazi, or European, Jews who traditionally dominated Israel’s government and religious institution.
Yosef had been hospitalized in critical condition for several days. Officials at the Jerusalem hospital that treated him announced his death. His prominence helped boost the confidence of his community, which makes up roughly half of Israel’s population but was long impoverished by Ashkenazi, or European, Jews who traditionally dominated Israel’s government and religious institution.
Next Story
