“The struggle we are facing, being bored in class, pales significantly to the struggle of those who simply cannot master the basics”
I read Rabbi Dovid Gernetz’s article describing the daunting yet noble efforts of Rav Ovadiah Yosef ztz”l and his son Rav Yitzchak shlita, who were tasked with scouring endless physical evidence and subsequently sifting through the multitude of poskim in an effort to be matir the agunos left in limbo as a result of Israel’s multiple wars.
At the end of the article, a question was posed regarding Rav Ovadiah: How did he merit such siyata d’Shmaya? The answer that Rabbi Gernetz cites may have been the Chacham’s humble response. I believe that a more accurate answer may be hidden in the following anecdote.
Rav Moshe Yosef, son of Chacham Ovadiah, relates that during the weeks and months after the Yom Kippur War, his father’s eyesight began to fail. The doctors attributed the Chacham’s condition to his constant weeping, night after night, trying to find heteirim for bnos Yisrael in pain. The doctors (one is identified as Professor Zoberman) were stumped and could not find a remedy; they concluded that his eyes were doomed. His son remembers dictating to his father from his vast library in order to enable him to learn during that painful period when he lost his ability to see.
The Chacham, however, didn’t give up hope and he asked his family to take him to the kever of Rav Yosef Karo, the legendary Beis Yosef, to whom Sephardim cling as their primary posek in halachah. The Chacham begged the Beis Yosef to intercede to Hashem on his behalf in the zechus of the Chacham’s staunch efforts to defend and spread the light of the Beis Yosef throughout Klal Yisrael. Not long after he completed his tefillos, the Chacham regained his eyesight in one eye, but had to wear dark sunglasses to protect the other remaining weak eye.
Create a free account to keep reading.
