Today is the Third of Marcheshvan, the anniversary of the passing of the luminary of our generation, Maran Rabbeinu Ovadia Yosef zt”l. As we are all his students, let us discuss some things in his memory of his holy soul.
Maran zt”l was, needless to say, an uncanny genius in all facets of Torah knowledge. Some claim that stemmed from his G-d-given talents and there may be truth to that. However, there is one point that all of the accomplishments of his life hinged on: He demanded endlessly from himself throughout his entire life! Even when things seemed impossible, Maran zt”l persevered until he witnessed the fruits of his labor. Let us recount some anecdotes that illustrate this:
Maran zt”l was completely engrossed in his learning all the time in a manner that was nearly unrivaled. Those who knew him from the classes he delivered saw a young man who was friendly and easy-going, but, in truth, he was always very meticulous about every moment of his life. No one had ever witnessed him sitting on a chair doing nothing. He would always delve in Torah studying and not let a second go by without it. As our Sages taught (Sukkah 28a) regarding Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai, “No one ever saw him sitting idly; rather, he was always sitting and learning.”
Even when he was elderly, frail, ill, and every breath was labored, Maran zt”l sat on his porch reciting Mishnayot by heart. He was dependable and consistent in this way until his very last day, for he understood that this was the most precious thing in life.
Only because of his undying love and toil in Torah did he merit his tremendous erudition in Torah. Anyone who learns the works of Maran zt”l sees that the Torah knowledge contained in his mind was not humanly possible for one man to achieve on his own.
However, Maran zt”l enjoyed special Heavenly assistance that allowed him to reach this level as a result of his dedication to Torah amid terrible poverty, suffering, and difficulty and, as a result, the Torah reciprocated its love to him and entered his heart and mind. Hashem granted him the privilege of superhuman Torah recall and retention which, in many ways, was unmatched for hundreds of years.
This idea can be found in several works of our Sages, especially Rabbeinu Yitzchak Arama in his Sefer Ha’Akeda (Ch. 6), who writes:
“It is well-known and revealed that meriting complete knowledge of Torah requires special G-dly assistance.” When one studies Torah, the Torah itself invests in him and exalts him!
For a man as great in stature as Maran zt”l, it would have been appropriate for him to sit at home, write his Torah thoughts, publish his halachic works, and at most, go out once in a while to deliver Torah classes before great Torah scholars. However, Maran zt”l constantly went out of his comfort zone and taught Torah to the masses. In the words of Hagaon Harav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach zt”l, “Rav Ovadia Yosef merited knowing when to close his books when necessary.”
Maran zt”l invested his entire life, from his youth until his passing, teaching Torah, and fear of Heaven to the public. He loved every Jew dearly and it genuinely hurt him when any Jew did not yet comprehend his lofty level and his purpose in the world. He really felt with every fiber of his being that this was a tremendous loss! It was for this reason that he did not care about his time or health and he would travel all across Israel and throughout the globe to teach the word of Hashem to the Jewish nation and change total ignoramuses into people with a value and love for Torah and Halacha.
A great Torah scholar recounted that in his youth, he grew up in the city of Ohr Akiva. Approximately forty years ago, the town was filled with good, traditional Jews who were not so knowledgeable in Halacha. They were aware about the concept of Muktzeh on Shabbat, but they did not understand the fine details that separated the categories from one another.
They valued Torah, but setting daily times for Torah study was a foreign idea to them. These people would sit on Shabbat afternoon for long hours playing board games and chatting about politics.
This was all until an emissary of Maran zt”l arrived in the city and begin delivering Torah classes. He would teach them from Halacha works such as Yalkut Yosef and others which began being published at the time.
Before the Shavuot holiday that year, he explained to the audience how turning on electricity on Yom Tov is forbidden. The audience was shocked to hear this because, historically, they had acted leniently in this regard. It became such a hot topic of discussion that the entire city debated among themselves whether or not it was permitted to use electricity on Yom Tov. Instead of debating who would be elected Prime Minister next, the residents of the city were busy discussing Halacha topics!
The city council and other respected community members then decided to invite Maran zt”l to visit the town himself and they would pose the electricity on Yom Tov question to him.
Several days later, Maran zt”l arrived in the city, and many men, women, and children came to hear his pearls of wisdom. When asked whether it was permissible to use electricity on Shabbat, he explained the length and breadth of the topic. He delved into the historical understanding of how electricity worked (that there was already fire in the tubes and bulbs that was then just transferred from one place to another) but explained why that understanding was flawed due to the correct understanding of the reality of how electricity works. He then ruled that turning on electricity on Yom Tov was absolutely forbidden. Because he had explained it so beautifully and articulately, people understood and accepted his ruling. The people of the town then progressively began to study more and more and became learned in Torah and Halacha. These kinds of stories with Maran zt”l literally transformed an entire generation of Sephardic Jewry from one extreme to the other.
We, at Halacha Yomit continue to strive for decades now to disseminate the unique Torah path of Maran zt”l to the messes. We do not just write halachic rulings; we delve into their sources, the root of these laws, which is the primary focus of the Mitzvah of Torah study. This was truly the halachic method pioneered by Maran zt”l specifically for this generation.
We therefore would like to take the opportunity to ask the broader public to participate in our mission. We are investing tremendous amounts of time and resources into improving our website, both in terms of aesthetics and content. Each one of you can bring merit to the public by sharing the signup link to Halacha Yomit with family and friends and encouraging them to join this platform. We have seen repeatedly that people who were devoid of any Torah knowledge grew so much in Torah as a result of this service. Through a short daily study session, their understanding of the laws of the Torah and their behavior has changed drastically, from one extreme to the other.
May the merit of Maran zt”l protect us all and may Hashem grant all of your hearts’ wishes for the good. May we merit witnessing the Ultimate Redemption and the Resurrection of the Dead, Amen.
