At Chazon Ovadia, Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef Calls Torah Study the Foundation of the Jewish People

A ceremony was held Tuesday night at the Chazon Ovadia yeshiva to mark the completion of Tractate Sukkah, which the students are studying, alongside the printing of a collection of essays and novellae written by the yeshiva’s students and rabbis. Present were the yeshiva’s president and founder, Sephardi Chief Rabbi and Council of Torah Sages president Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef, head of the yeshiva Rabbi Rahamim Yosef, and rabbis Rabbi Natan Demigan, Rabbi Aryeh Nagar, and Rabbi Yosef Chaim Suissa, who accompanies the yeshiva.

The main address was delivered by Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef, who stressed the importance of Torah scholars and the need to honor them, especially now. He recalled the yeshiva’s early years, saying Rabbi Ovadia Yosef used to come every week to give a class and supported the yeshiva each month from his own pocket. He also spoke about the dedication of his wife, Rabbanit Margalit Yosef, who donated all her savings to help establish the yeshiva.

Yosef said that when people are now “pursuing the world of Torah and its students,” it is necessary to remember how earlier generations treated Torah and those who study it. He said Rabbi Ovadia taught that “Torah is above everything” and that Torah learners are the most important people, adding that steps must be taken to regularize their status. “Basic Law, Torah Study, lives up to its name,” he said, calling Torah study “the foundation of the Jewish people” and quoting Rabbi Saadia Gaon, “The nation of Israel is no nation except by its Torahs.”

Rabbi Rahamim Yosef and Rabbi Natan Demigan said the yeshiva is preparing to receive dozens of new students for the 5787 school year, in addition to the existing students. They said the response to efforts to weaken Torah is to expand the yeshiva and increase the number of students. The event ended with recitation of Psalms for the salvation of the Jewish people and for the rescue of Torah learners from those who pursue them, with the students praying tearfully for the community and for individuals.