The funeral of Rav Ovadiah Yosef ZATZAL brought, according to some estimations, close to a million mourners to the streets of Jerusalem. In every direction, one could only see a sea of people with black hats mourning the grave loss of a beloved and brilliant leader.
This op-ed, however, is not a eulogy of Rav Ovadiah Yosef zt”l.
It is about something else.
Of late, the government of Israel, has acceded, in many ways, to the will of those who look down upon and askance to the resurgence of the Torah-true Judaism that Rav Ovadiah championed throughout his life. The words of Yair Lapid when he first addressed the Knesset and his biting sarcasm, conveyed his message clearly, “Nimas lanu lishmoa lachem kvar – We are sick of listening to you already.”
The levaya, however, speaks directly to Yair Lapid as well as his supporters. This funeral was the largest funeral ever in the history of the state of Israel, and probably in the entire history of the Jewish people. In a matter of hours, close to one million people dropped whatever they were doing and mobilized to give their final honor to this great Torah leader. There were fears of entire buildings collapsing on account of the weight.
The sheer numbers of attendees should give Mr. Lapid pause. Do you really think that you can successfully deny the beautiful heritage of Torah to Beit Yisrael – the house that Rav Ovadiah had so painstakingly built?
When the state was first built, the agenda was set by irreligious Ashkenazic Jews. We see pictures of Yemenites who entered the Holy land only to be shorn of their peyoth and placed in schools where they were denied their Torah birthright.
Rav Ovadiah zt”l, slowly and carefully, fought against this all. With a determination that rivalled or even exceeded his scholarly determination, Rav Ovadiah created a generation, where finally, the Torah lifestyle can reign supreme for Sefardic Jews as well.
Look at the infrastructure that he helped build, Mr. Lapid. Enter the hallways of the chadarim and Beit Yaakovs. And view the footage of the hundreds of thousands of genuine mourners yesterday.
No, Mr. Lapid. You have barked up the wrong tree. Beit Israel, is here to stay. The size of this funeral attests to that.
Long ago, Ben Gurion went to meet and speak to the saintly Chazon Ish regarding the future dynamics of a state made up of Torah true Jews with Jews of a decidedly secular bent. The Chazon Ish inquired of Ben Gurion, “On a small road where a fully laden wagon is going in one direction and an empty wagon is travelling in the opposite direction – which do you think should have the right of way?” Ben Gurion responded, “Are you saying that a state devoid of Torah is likened to an empty wagon?” The Chazon Ish responded with silence.
My dear Mr. Lapid, that silence has echoed loudly in the sheer number of mourners yesterday. The Torah of Rav Ovadiah will reverberate in our Batei Midrashim for all future centuries. And the Torah society that he helped create will remain there too.
Just look at Israel’s own history. Alone among all civilizations in the world’s history, we, the Torah nation have come back to our land. Why can’t you see this plainly written message? Carthage, the Aztecs, the Mayans – they are all gone. We alone have returned to our land.
It is not too late for you to join up and support Torah, rather than fight it. Darcheha darchei Noam vekol netivoteha shalom. The Torah’s ways are pleasant and peaceful.
But if you choose to continue in your futile attempts – revach v’hatzalah yavo mimakom acher and you and your political legacy will be lost to the dustbin of history.
Rav Ovadia has proved that even in death – his message remains as strong as ever. Am Yisrael Chai, Mr. Lapid, and it is because of Torah.
Ovadiah Warshauer – Jerusalem
NOTE: The views expressed here are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of YWN.
DO YOU HAVE AN OPINION YOU WOULD LIKE TO SEE POSTED ON YWN? SEND IT TO US FOR REVIEW.
(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
Join the official YWN WhatsApp status
22 Responses
How does the 6 million who didn’t show up prove anything? Not to take anything away from maran harav yosef, but those that came are the frum….And yes he definitely was largely responsible for the revival of Sephardic Jewry which showed up on masse for the Levaya but thats to be expected and saying “Take that Mr Lapid” when the secular majority stayed home is wholly irresponsible….
It’s also a message for Mr. Haim Amsellem for causing the stroke on Chacham Ovadia Yosef zt’l that began his final illness and petira:
http://www.theyeshivaworld.com/article.php?p=152314
May Mr. La’armpit do teshuvah soon or get a one way ticket to purgatory!
#1 what exactly are you taking issue with? The writer wrote that within hours close to 1,000,000 people came o say good bye to someone that revolutionized Torah in Eretz yisroel. The fact that the secularists didnt come, does not take away the fact that so many people came and showed that we lost Torah, but will continu his legacy and not back down to attempts by people like Lapid who if he is truly Jewish is nebach a real self hating lost neshama. So the writes is saying that Mr. Lapid should realize that when it comes to Torah people will come out en masse to support it.
#1,
First of all, you have your facts wrong. MANY MANY NON FRUM also showed up! Were you there?
2nd, Do you understand what it means when a sixth of an ENTIRE COUNTRY(!) shows up in a 4 hour notice?!
I actually had a bet with some friends about how quickly the death of HaRav Ovadia Yosef would be politicized…I was right on the money.
You can call Yair Lapid all the names you want, he didn’t appear in a vaccum and I sincerly doubt his politics will be part of the “dustbin of history” since it will always be a matter of time before people stop funding their own demise.
This would have been a beautiful moment for unity in klal yisroel but instead it’s politics as usual and the typical fear mongering in the “Torah True” community shows everyone that there is no such thing as reasonable discourse.
Excellent article…
My husband and boys were there, and not only were there both Ashkenazim and Sefardim at the levaya, but MANY MANY non religious people were there too. It may have looked very ‘black’, but there a lot of jeans and sneakers too. And the near million who did show up doesn’t even include the MANY MANY people who wanted to go, but couldn’t make it in for various reasons, or bc they closed the roads.
Beautiful and talented article. R’ Ovadiah Warshauer, you eloquently expressed the known facts. This should be posted all over.
#1 There were lots of chilonim at the levaye and many of them even tore kriah!
first sentence if it was…..
Why do you need to bring up such a ridiculous topic so close to the death of a great Torah leader? Take this period to reflect on the man that unified the nation. His many works allowed those that you might not find to be so religiously palatable to find a home in the orthodox world.
Many Jews are observant today thanks to his great work.
So, please crawl back into the place you came from and keep your negativity to yourself.
As for me and my fellow Sephardic brethren, we were fortunately to have such a light illuminate our way.
BenHabs: not counting all the children who were told not to come and the radical left and Arabs that’s quite a showing. Imagine that in America that is the equivalent of about 50 million people so yes “Take that Mr. Lapid” and for that matter Take that BenHabs.
“This funeral was the largest funeral ever in the history of the state of Israel, and probably in the entire history of the Jewish people.”
Probably NOT in the entire history of the Jewish people. I can think of 3 funerals which had 30 million Jews attending. Can you?
they came to honor a sefer torah. at lapid’s father’s levya how many came? Lapid answer this and you will see the only true honor is Torah
#13 shazam:
“Rebbi”, composer of Mishnayos, had a larger levaya. See the gemara, in Y-mi Mes’ Kelayijm.
Mr.BenHabs, you were obviously not at the levaya, because I was there and there were plenty of chilonim there as well. So yes – “take that RASHA LAPID”!.
#1
There is a huge difference between people coming to people staying where they are!
Hence if 6,000,000 would have moved away from the funeral you would have had a point!
1,000,000 +/- from close and far who show up in 4 hours with some much traffic and hardship is a huge statement!!!!
I would say the majority of the 6,000,000 would have come too, if it was a bit easier. Them not coming is no consultation to Mr. Rosha Lapid!!!!
Many of us are somewhat cold hearted, we don’t realize the pain Lapid has caused to soooo many Yidden especially b’nei Torah !!!
I hope we all do tshuva soon and merit moshiach
Mr. Lapid the only point you need to come away from all this is that Am Yisroel will not give up their Torah EVER. These million people did not have a personal kesher to Rav Ovadiyah Yosef, they came altz kavod HaTorah. period. and i agree with the other poster, that had the roads been clearer, and the transportation more efficient, there would have been even more people there.
im sure the rav forgave you but hashem wont unless you do teshuva
#2. That is categorically unfair. Shas blaming people doesn’t make it so. That was a political situation, not a dictatorship. People are entitled to differing opinions.
Why must people go negative, even during the Loss of a Godol?
People do not realize the enormity of this. If you used a similar ratio in America, it would be like 50 million people going to a funeral!
And you can trust the Hazon Ish ! He didn’t play the racist card !