BICOM

Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, the spiritual leader of Sephardi ultra-Orthodox party Shas and the wider Sephardi community died yesterday, triggering a huge outpouring of public grief.

93-year-old Rabbi Yosef, considered a rabbinical giant, had been hospitalized two weeks ago in Jerusalem suffering from severe heart and kidney problems. Although his condition improved last week, his death was announced yesterday afternoon. A statement from the Haddasah Hospital in Ein Kerem said, “The rabbi died after a stubborn battle with his serious condition.”

Shas political leader Aryeh Deri wept uncontrollably as he spoke to reporters following Rabbi Yosef’s death, asking “How will we remain alone? Who will lead us?” Eli Yishai, Deri’s partner at the head of Shas was similarly overwhelmed and said “Our crown has fallen, we are orphans.” Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed his “profound grief” at Rabbi Yosef’s passing and visited the family just hours after his death. Netanyahu said “The Jewish People have lost one of the wisest men of this generation” and commented “Rabbi Ovadia was a… biblical giant and a mentor to tens of thousands.” Meanwhile, President Shimon Peres visited Rabbi Yosef’s bedside soon before his death and later said “When I squeezed his hand, I felt that I was squeezing the hand of history.” Both Netanyahu and Peres attended Rabbi Yosef’s funeral yesterday evening in Jerusalem.

The funeral turned out to be the largest in Israel’s history, as crowds from across Israel flooded Jerusalem to pay their respects. Police spokesman Mickey Rosenfeld said “We estimate there are more the 700,000 people taking part” as streets were closed and parts of the city came to a standstill. Thousands of extra police officers were deployed to deal with the crowds who gathered outside Rabbi Yosef’s seminary before the funeral procession slowly made its way to the cemetery in Jerusalem’s Sanhedria district.