Rav Yitzhak Yosef inherited Rav Ovadiah’s sweeping vision— while fighting a rearguard action to protect Israel’s religious status quo
The door to the large office swings open, the Kazakhstani ambassador steps out, and then comes a shock. For a moment it seems as if Rav Ovadiah Yosef is sitting behind the large polished wooden desk.
It’s not just the traditional dark blue turban and gold-embroidered glimah of the Rishon L’Tzion, Israel’s Sephardic chief rabbi. The features, the serious gaze, the eyes that speak of a large inner world — six years after Rav Ovadiah’s passing, they’re here once again.
It’s a comparison that’s been made so often that it’s become a cliché. But a spirited conversation makes clear that Rav Yitzhak Yosef’s similarity to his legendary father is more than just skin-deep.
Responding to thousands of halachic questions from around the globe, he’s emerged as a major posek on complex issues. Against mounting pressure to compromise on conversion and marriage, he’s fighting a rearguard action to protect Israel’s religious status quo. And as his father’s partner in both Torah teaching and public life, he continues the Sephardic renaissance that was Maran’s dream.
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