Freedom, Liberty and Rabbi Ovadia Yosef abbi Ovadia Yosef, one of Israel’s most revered Rand controversial religious leaders, was born in Baghdad in 1920 and came to Palestine at the age of four. He attended yeshivot in the Old City of Jerusalem and was ordained by the chief Sephardic rabbi, Rabbi Ben- Zion Meir Hai Uziel. From 1947 to 1950, he served as a magistrate in the Cairo rabbinical court. Upon returning to Israel, he was appointed a rabbinical magistrate in Petach Tikva and then Jerusalem, and in 1969 became Tel Aviv’s chief rabbi. He served as chief Sephardic rabbi of Israel from 1973 to 1983. { By ARIEL PICARD 56 | Fall 2008 Freedom, Liberty and Rabbi Ovadia Yosef /// Ariel Picard HAVRUTA | 57 Before the political party Shas was estab- This article does not presume to answer all lished in 1984, Rav Ovadia was renowned these questions but seeks to examine more only in the spiritual and halachic realm. He closely his social-religious position as it is re- had gained a reputation as a halackhic ge- flected in his halachic rulings. Owing to his nius with a photographic memory – admir- controversial public persona, it is easy to for- Rabbi Ovadia Yosef ers called him a walking sefer Torah – whose get that Rav Ovadia is first and foremost an /// Illustration by legal decisions exhibited boldness and vi- important halachic figure who has been shap- Moran Barak sion. One striking example was his historic ing Jewish religious law for over sixty years. recognition, despite the initial opposition His response to modernity has been harsh of the rabbinic elite, of the Beta Israel (Ethi- and uncompromising in some cases and sur- opian immigrants) as Jews. Still, it was on prisingly open-minded in others. Fundamen- becoming the spiritual leader of the Shas tally, his halachic approach seeks to embrace political party, which at its height in 1999 the vast majority of the Jewish public, even held seventeen seats in the 120-member though this public is no longer committed to Knesset, that Rav Ovadia became a house- halacha. In this respect, he speaks to a wide hold name in Israel. His presence in public and appreciative audience. life leaves few indifferent. The Power of Leniency Women, Rav Ovadia One of the most significant aspects of the modern world is the phenomenon of declared, should stick to secularization. Beginning in the 18th cen- cooking and sewing. tury, as the ghettos of Europe gave way to emancipation and Jewish enlightenment – Haskala in Hebrew – the communal author- It is not uncommon for the Sunday morn- ity of the rabbinate was shaken, as many ing news in Israel to be peppered with con- Jews left Orthodoxy. In response to the tentious comments taken from Rav Ova- rise of Reform Judaism in Central Europe, dia’s weekly Saturday night drasha (sermon). an Orthodox counter-ideology emerged in Women, he declared, should stick to cooking the mid-19th century, seeking to reject any and sewing. He has notoriously compared and all changes that the reformers tried to Arabs to snakes, and opined that Hurricane introduce into Jewish life. Katrina was a divine punishment for the While European Jewry had to contend American-backed Israeli withdrawal from with these challenges, Jews in Muslim coun- Gaza. Following the Second Lebanon War, tries lived in a very different world. Although Rav Ovadia said that soldiers were killed be- the influences of secularization had reached cause of their nonobservant lifestyle. these parts of the world, they did not lead Rav Ovadia’s defenders contend that the to a deep crisis as they did in Europe. As subtleties of his comments are lost in the Zvi Zohar writes in his book Tradition and popular press. Still, such remarks infuriate Change (Hebrew, 1993): “The vast majority and boggle the general public. How, people of members of the community kept consid- ask, can one who holds such outrageous views ering themselves as believing Jews. But wield such formidable political and religious they considered religion and traditional Jew- power in Israel? How is it, they wonder, that ish norms to bear limited importance for so many Shas supporters are not religious at them.” While in some European countries, all? And why is Rav Ovadia so important in the Orthodox communities set themselves the eyes of so many followers? apart from the secular Jews, Sephardic com- 58 | Fall 2008 Freedom, Liberty and Rabbi Ovadia Yosef /// Ariel Picard munities preserved their internal cohesion throughout the modern era, even after ar- riving in Israel. Rav Ovadia Yosef employs the tactic of turning a blind eye, in certain cases where he believes that insistence upon the complete fulfillment of a religious commandment could lead to its complete violation. Since, among non-European Jews, devi- ance from halachic norms was not commonly perceived as undermining the community’s religious identity, Rav Ovadia Yosef is more likely to respond more moderately to secular Israeli realities than Ashkenazi ultra-Ortho- dox rabbis, who view the same phenomena as a formidable threat that requires a severe reaction. However, when Rav Ovadia identi- Along with the document, Rav Ovadia sub- fies a certain phenomenon as innovative, as mitted excerpts from interviews he gave to signifying a wish to change halacha because the press, where he says: of its incongruence with modernity, he con- siders it to be a threat and rejects it outright. I have said that I am of Beit Hillel, that In 1973, Rav Ovadia announced his can- is, to continue following Beit Hillel . In Chief Rabbi Ben-Zion didacy for the position of chief Sephardic every instance where there is a dispute Meir Hai Uziel rabbi of Israel, submitting a platform in sup- between [halachic] adjudicators about port of his application: strictness and leniency [kula], the opinion that leans toward kula should be accepted I shall do my utmost with divine help… according to suitable instructions. to face the problems that tear our world apart. To resolve them in the spirit of our Rav Ovadia’s implication is that his le- holy Torah, and to strive for rulings with nient line is not an obvious choice. It differs the power of leniency, according to the from the common approach in the ultra-Or- thodox community that favors the stringent ways of Beit Hillel. HAVRUTA | 59 observance of halacha and fashions a sepa- societies and modern ones is the size and rate existence, isolated from and untainted scope of the departure from Orthodoxy. To- by secular society. Rabbinic leaders who day there are large groups who do not obli- take this sectarian approach usually refer, in gate themselves to an Orthodox understand- their halachic rulings, solely to the members ing of halacha. Jews who call themselves of their own ultra-Orthodox community. By mesorati – not to be confused with the Israeli contrast, Rav Ovadia considers himself to Masorti movement, affiliated with American be responsible for the wider Jewish public – Conservative Judaism – pose an important which is how he justifies his preference for challenge for Rav Ovadia. Many such Israeli the lenient kula over the strict humra. Jews are of Middle Eastern or North African origin; many will keep kashrut and attend synagogue but also (by way of a famous ex- Rav Yosef tolerates the ample) drive to Jerusalem’s Teddy Stadium to watch soccer on Shabbat afternoon. In or- deviance of women’s der to bring such people back to a full Torah- pants, despite his per- based life, Rav Ovadia has devised a policy that would strive to reduce halachic noncom- sonal opposition, to min- pliance, yet on the other hand would not ex- pect full religious observance on the part of imize the damage to the these individuals. In the examples that fol- community – too tough low, we will see how Rav Ovadia applies this approach in his rulings.*1 a dress code could drive The principle ofhara be-mi’uto – “the lesser evil” – is nicely exemplified in an influential girls to secular schools. responsum that Rabbi Ovadia Yosef wrote in 1973 when the principal of a religious school Rav Ovadia often characterizes his gen- complained that girls were coming to school eration – pejoratively – as “the generation of in miniskirts: “He is unable to protest, al- freedom and liberty.” In his opinion, freedom though to our great dismay the fences of leads to the erosion of rabbinical authority modesty have been broken open, and they and to the lack of commitment to complete [the girls] would not heed to their teachers’ submission to halachic requirements. The orders.” The principal, unable to force the strict approach is therefore flawed, because students to wear long skirts, is faced with excessive strictness is likely to lead the public the choice of allowing them to wear pants. to ignore duties that it finds too burdensome. The inquirer assumes that wearing pants en- Rav Ovadia is concerned lest traditional Jews tails a halachic obstacle and thus asks for the who have “weak” religious devotion are driv- rabbi’s opinion on the matter. Rav Ovadia en from the path by the demands of a rigidly launches into a long speech about his firm Orthodox lifestyle. rejection of the miniskirt: And it has been found that she who walks Pants or Miniskirts? in a miniskirt – a garment of the most hor- rible promiscuity – and her sole intent is to Historically, the Jewish world has always in- follow the ways of a fashion that leads to cluded anomalous and delinquent individu- als who remained part of their communities. * Rav Ovadia's halachic opinions to date have been collected A key difference between traditional Jewish in 10 volumes, entitled Yabia Omer.