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Category Archives: R. Ovadia Yosef
The Crown Reclaimed: An Alliance Theory of Ovadia Yosef
Ovadia Yosef builds a coalition before he builds a movement. The coalition comes first because the coalition is the point. His base is the Mizrahi population of Israel, the Jews who came from Arab lands and arrived to find an … Continue reading
Posted in R. Ovadia Yosef
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From Margin to Center: How the Lithuanian Haredi Stance Captured Power in Israel, 1967–1980
In June 1967, the central Haredi public, the world of Agudat Yisrael, met the war with euphoria. HaModia compared the IDF’s advance to the Exodus. Daglenu (דגלנו, “Our Banner” was the journal of Tze’irei Agudat Yisrael, the youth movement of … Continue reading
Posted in Agudath Israel, Haredi, Israel, R. Ahron Kotler, R. Elazar Shach, R. Ovadia Yosef, R. Yosef Shalom Elyashiv
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Goren as Proxy: Alliance Theory and the Capture of the Rabbanut
R. Shlomo Goren (1917-1994) rises through the IDF chaplaincy because David Ben-Gurion (1886-1973) needs a halakhic (Jewish law) authority who answers to the secular state. The standard rabbinical establishment objects. Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Herzog (1888-1959) makes the formal appointment of … Continue reading
Posted in Haredi, R. Ovadia Yosef, R. Shlomo Goren, R. Shlomo Zalman Auerbach
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Ovadiah Yosef – The Early Years (1)
I’m listening to this lecture by Marc B. Shapiro for Torah in Motion. Apparently, the late Israeli sage Ovadiah Yosef did not come from a distinguished rabbinic family. He had two brothers who were not religious. The Sephardim have few … Continue reading
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R. Ovadiah Yosef: Goyim Were Born Only To Serve Us
It’s inevitable that those with strong in-group identities will tend to view out-groups as only existing for them. So I have no problem with R. Ovadiah Yosef’s statements or the equivalent if said by goyim, just so long as these … Continue reading
Posted in Jews, R. Ovadia Yosef, Race
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Using Church Music In Shul
In his third lecture on Rabbi Yisrael Moshe Hazan (19th Century rabbi in Rome) for Torah in Motion, Rabbi Marc B. Shapiro says: Rabbi Hazan recommends using church music in the davening. We should use our words but their tune. … Continue reading
Posted in Christianity, Marc B. Shapiro, R. Ovadia Yosef
Tagged church music, davening, Marc B. Shapiro, music aka, rabbi yisrael, tolerant view, torah in motion
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State Department Condemns Incitement By Rabbi Ovadia Yosef
JTA reports: The Obama administration condemned what it said was incitement by an influential Israeli rabbi. “We regret and condemn the inflammatory statements by Rabbi Ovadia Yosef,” State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said Sunday in a statement. On the eve … Continue reading
Posted in R. Ovadia Yosef
Tagged israeli rabbi, night sermon, palestinian authority president mahmoud abbas, rabbi ovadia yosef, rabbi yosef, state department spokesman
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