Ovadia Yosef Quotes

Israel, Rabbi
September 23, 1920 – October, 7, 2013.

Ovadia Yosef (Hebrew: עובדיה יוסף‬ Ovadya Yosef, Arabic: عبد الله يوسف‎, translit. Abdullah Yusuf; September 24, 1920 – October 7, 2013) was an Iraqi-born Talmudic scholar, a posek, the Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel from 1973 to 1983, and the founder and long-time spiritual leader of Israel's ultra-Orthodox Shas party. Yosef's responsa were highly regarded within Haredi circles, particularly among Mizrahi communities, among whom he was regarded as "the most important living halakhic authority".

Also known as Posek, Dayan

You must not lean on a tree on Sabbath, if the tree might be dependent on you for support.

Ovadia Yosef
- You
- Support
- Tree
Saving a life overrides territories.

Ovadia Yosef
- Life
- Saving
- Territories

They don't observe the Sabbath, they don't observe the Torah, they don't pray, they don't put on phylacteries every day. Is it any wonder that they're killed? It's no wonder. May the Almighty have mercy on them and bring them back to religion.

Ovadia Yosef
- May
- Wonder
- Mercy
Where there is Torah it sustains the world.

Ovadia Yosef
- World
- Where
- Torah
In Israel, death has no dominion over them With gentiles, it will be like any person – they need to die, but [God] will give them longevity. Why? Imagine that one's donkey would die, they'd lose their money. This is his servant That's why he gets a long life, to work well for this Jew. Gentiles were born only to serve us. Without that, they have no place in the world – only to serve the People of Israel.

Ovadia Yosef
- Death
- Israel
- Dominion
Goyim were born only to serve us. Without that, they have no place in the world - only to serve the People of Israel.

Ovadia Yosef
- People
- World
- Place
It is easy for a rabbi to establish prohibitions, but a rabbi's real strength is to teach Torah and rule on law with an emphasis on what is permitted.

Ovadia Yosef
- Real
- Law
There was a tsunami and there are terrible natural disasters, all of this because of too little Torah study.

Ovadia Yosef
- Study
- Natural Disasters

It is forbidden to be merciful to them. You must send missiles to them and annihilate them. They are evil and damnable. … The Lord shall return the Arabs' deeds on their own heads, waste their seed and exterminate them, devastate them and vanish them from this world.

Ovadia Yosef
- World
- Evil
We should have a banquet on the day haters die.

Ovadia Yosef
- Die
- Day
- Haters
Why are Gentiles needed? They will work, they will plow, they will reap. We will sit like an effendi and eat. That is why Gentiles were created.

Ovadia Yosef
- Work
- Why
There was a tsunami and there are terrible natural disasters, because there isn't enough Torah study.

Ovadia Yosef
The most significant halachic authority of the last 100 years, whose positions helped fashion a balanced and moderate Judaism.

Ovadia Yosef
When we ask God to 'bring an end to our enemies,' we should be thinking about Iran, those evil ones who threaten Israel.

Ovadia Yosef
- God
- Enemies
- Bring