[Eulogy
given in the yeshiva today by Ha-Rav Shlomo Aviner Shilt"a upon hearing of
Ha-Rav Ovadiah Yosef ztz"l's passing]
Ha-Gaon
Ha-Rav Ovadiah Yosef ztz"l fulfilled what every true Torah scholar is
obligated: Do not tremble before man. He
said what he thought, without fear, and without worrying about the potential
criticism. And he certainly did not fear
losing public opinion points, and this is correct, since Torah scholars do not
need to be guided by public opinion, on the contrary, public opinion needs to
be guided by Torah scholars.
Obviously,
the gates always remained open to disagree with him, but everyone knew that he
was not ruling based on interests or out of fear, but he said what he thought,
and stood firm against any pressure.
He
therefore occasionally used harsh language, towards both Torah scholars and
different communities, but anyone who knew him understood that he did so out of
love, revealed rebuke and hidden love, the one he loves he rebukes (play on
Mishlei 3:12). They seemed as enemies in
the war of Torah but they truly loved one another. To what is this similar, when someone
approached Ha-Rav Ovadiah, and Ha-Rav wanted to expressed love towards him, he
would give him a slap…
He
utilized his great genius and incredible courage in order to save the Jewish
People in two ways: Through leniency and through unity.
Ha-Rav
saved through leniency. In fact, Ha-Rav
Ovadiah was courageous to rule leniently when possible, out of concern that
being strict would lead to leniency, since an abundance of Chumrot causes one
to be lenient in Torah Mitzvot, and certainly he would not make new
decrees. He obviously was not always lenient,
and was occasionally strict against all the other authorities, when he felt it
necessarily. And when he saw it proper,
he was lenient. However, he did not do
so on his own, since in his humility he did not make ruling based on Chidushim
and Pilpulim, but based on the majority of Poskim. He obviously knew well that sometimes there
was a strict minority, which included a Posek equal to all of those who were
lenient, but he took the responsibility upon his shoulders to permit.
And
Ha-Rav saved through unity. Ha-Rav
Ovadiah courageously united all Sefardim, by giving up on local customs, and
uniting around the Beit Yosef, "And Yosef was the leader over the land, he
was the provider to all the people of the land" (Bereshit 42:6), both
Ha-Rav Yosef Karo and Ha-Rav Ovadiah Yosef.
Ha-Rav Ovadiah was not scared to decide in a halachic dispute since
doubts and differences of opinion confuse and weaken. He therefore gave clear halachic rulings. And at the same time, even when not everyone
agreed with him, he was strong as a flint-stone.
And
Ha-Rav Ovadiah was extremely successful in his mission. He raised up the Sefardic community, which
was lacking both in Torah and societal status.
He succeeded through his leadership, including unified halachic rulings,
Divrei Torah, writing and establishing educational and political institutions.
He
is therefore justifiably called "Maran" – our Master – by Sefardim.
Maran
always worked hard. He already began to work
at a young age, since he was from a poor family. And he continued to work hard his entire life
in the field of Torah. His first work
was writing comments on the margins of the book Reishit Chochma at the age of
9. And his entire life, he worked hard
to elevate and refine his character traits.
And
here are three personal stories about Maran's character traits:
Forty
years ago, Rav Ovadiah was attacked by ignoramuses in the press for a statement
he made. They acted in their Chutzpa as
if he did not know Torah. I wrote a
short 10-line article to the newspaper pointing out a simple source for Maran's
words. The next day I was called to the
Kibbutz's only telephone, and I heard his gentle and soft voice: "Yashar
Koach to the honorable one."
Many
years later, he called me, sat me close to him, and whispered to me in a
fatherly tone: "Be careful, the honorable one, from those people, they
worked against you."
And
one day in our yeshiva, a student told me that he had gotten engaged. "Mazel
Tov! I am happy to hear!" I
said. "There is one problem, however," he added.
"She is Ethiopian and I am a Cohain" (some authorities say that
Ethiopians must go through a "Giyur Le-Chumrah – a conversion for
stricture" since some are question their Judaism. A Cohain may not
marry a convert). "Why did you get yourself involved in a
complication like that?" I asked. "I didn't think about
it," he replied. "I appreciate her and I love her. I didn't
notice her color." I sent him to a few different great Rabbis, whose
opinions I knew, but they feared putting their rulings in writing. I then turned to Maran. The next say I received a letter permitting
him to marry. "Take it," I
said to him, "it is a piece of paper worth a billion dollars."
He
is truly a Rav who saved others.
This
giant is silent but his mighty, clear, courageous and upright spirit hovers
above us, in the mouths of the giant Torah scholars and the simple people.
This
great saving hero testified about himself: I do not sleep at night bothered by
how to have 10,000 other children recite Keriat Shema.
May
his soul be bound up with the bonds of the living with the souls of the greatest
of Torah scholars.
