RABBI WEIN ON RABBI OVADYAH YOSEF

I was not in Israel when Rav Ovadyah Yosef passed on to his eternal reward. However, even in Brazil where I was at the time it was front-page news and pictures of the enormous funeral procession accompanied the obituary article. Rarely has one person had such an imposing effect upon the lives of millions of others as did Rav Yosef. His greatness in Torah knowledge was unquestioned, even by those who may have disagreed with some of his policies and halachic rulings. Possessed of a photographic memory coupled with an encyclopedic knowledge of thousands of rabbinic works and writings that have spanned the ages, his own volumes of halachic rulings and Torah insights became a staple in every yeshiva and rabbinic library the world over. But as impressive and noble as this scholarly achievement was, it pales, in my humble opinion, in comparison to his achievement in raising an entire section of the Jewish people from intellectual poverty and a despised social status. His motto regarding Sephardic Jewry was “To restore the crown of glory to its original luster” and to a great extent he accomplished this seemingly impossible task in his life’s work.