A Crown Restored

For Rav Ovadiah Yosef, Torah was a single consuming passion, dearer to him than his daily bread. Yet even as he rose to prominence as one of the generation’s premier gedolim and halachic arbiters, Rav Ovadiah achieved another mission. It was his calling to restore the glory of his ancestors’ tradition to its rightful place in every sphere — on the halachic bookshelf, in the rulings of the chief rabbinate, at the voting booth, and inside the Knesset, and even within the children’s classrooms. An unlikely yet brilliant architect, he steadily charted change in social, political, and cultural spheres.

Still, no matter what concerns filled his daily schedule, he started and ended every day in the same legendary library, immersed in the same beloved sefarim. As he succeeded in restoring the crown to the rich Sephardic heritage, he unwittingly gained a crown of his own — the respect and reverence of an entire generation.

The monthlong hospital vigil over Rav Ovadiah Yosef ztz”l mirrored a similar crisis exactly seven years ago. But as children, grandchildren, disciples, and adherents stormed the Heavens with their prayers these last weeks, they hoped against hope: would Hashem grant another reprieve?

In 2006, too, the prognosis was bleak. Maran HaGaon HaRav Ovadiah was in grave danger. His heart condition had worsened, complicated by other ailments, and the medical team decided to operate. Attached to numerous machines and tubes, Rav Ovadiah lay pale and weak, his breathing labored, his blood pressure yo-yoing dangerously; he could barely hold up his head. But his pocket-sized Gemara never left his bedside, remaining open until the moment the anesthesia was administered.

Awakening after the operation, Rav Ovadiah didn’t ask about his condition or the operation’s success. He asked only for water for netilas yadayim and immediately resumed learning from where he’d left off.

To check if his father was as alert as he seemed, one son asked him the source of a certain quote.