In its sitting on Tuesday, the knesset Plenum held a special debate for commemoration of the late Rabbi Ovadia Yosef. Speaker of the Knesset MK Amir Ohana (Likud) said at the start of the debate, “Throughout the generations, Jewish leaders and Torah sages faced fateful decisions, but few were called upon to contend with questions as complex as those that came before Rabbi Ovadia Yosef. The rulings he issued are considered innovative and groundbreaking to this day.
“Rabbi Ovadia had a rare combination of Halachic courage, vast knowledge of Jewish sources and human compassion. His actions changed the face of rabbinic ruling in Israel. To this day, his rulings are studied, his path is studied and his memory is preserved—the memory of the person who knew above all how to connect between the letter of the law and the compassion of the heart. Maran [honorific used for Rabbi Ovadia Yosef] was a giant of spirit whose influence crossed over sectors, Jewish communities and borders, and it will continue to shine many years after his passing. May his memory be enshrined in our hearts forever,” said speaker mk Ohana.
MK Aryeh Deri (Shas): “Maran’s life’s work was based on love of the Jewish people, a pure mission for the sake of heaven. This was the case in every field that he touched. The same was true when it came to his love for the IDF soldiers. When he heard about a soldier who fell, he would sit and weep. He said that the soldiers were giving their lives so that we would be able to study Torah. He said that a person who fights on the battlefield is an emissary of God. In the same breath, he fought on behalf of Torah learners and cried out that the Torah is the secret of our existence. This issue was always a primary concern for him—to ensure that the Torah would not be forgotten by the Jewish people, that every Jewish child would be able to learn, to know where he came from and where he was going.
“If Rabbi Ovadia Yosef were alive, he would not believe how much his life’s work has grown, and how much social justice and light it has brought to the world. Today, polarization, division and internal hatred strike at us mercilessly. We have seen what this can cause. We have had one terrible disaster, and we still haven’t learned the lesson. We must stop, come to our senses and remember the image of Maran, who was wholly love of the Jewish people. He did not divide the nation, but rather united it. He did not search for the separating factors, but rather for the unifying factors.
“We must make his image a model for us, not only as a leader and Halachic authority, but as a model of unconditional love. Love of every Jew, with or without a kippa. Right wing or left wing, traditional or secular. For when you love—you find a shared path. And that is Rabbi Ovadia Yosef’s legacy for us today—to preserve the unity, the Torah, the Torah learners, the beating Jewish heart, for us to strengthen our soldiers and the bereaved families,” said MK Deri.
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