Go here for a link and code to download all the Torah you want for free from Torah In Motion. I’ve been downloading Marc Shapiro all morning.
Dr. Shapiro tells a story of a secular Sephardic girl in Israel who got pregnant outside of marriage. She was scared to tell her father, who was a baal teshuva (returnee to Orthodox Judaism).
So R. Ovadia Yosef has his secretary call the father just before Rosh Hashanah and tell him that R. Yosef wants to see him
When the man gets there, there are several rabbis. There’s cake and alcohol.
"Join me for a l’chaim," says R. Yosef.
"What’s the occasion?" asks the man.
"The occasion is that your daughter is giving birth and I want you to welcome your grandchild into the family."
