ר׳ עובדיה יוסף

ר׳ עובדיה יוסף (1920–2013) was an Iraqi-born Israeli halakhic authority, Rishon LeZion and spiritual leader of Shas. His family moved from Baghdad to Jerusalem when he was four. He studied at Porat Yosef under ר׳ עזרא עטייה. From 1947 to 1950 he served in Cairo as deputy chief rabbi and head of the rabbinical court. Back in Israel he served on rabbinical courts in Petah Tikva and Jerusalem, became a Supreme Rabbinical Court judge, Chief Rabbi of Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel from 1973 to 1983. His responsa sought to restore a unified Sephardi practice centered on the rulings of ר׳ יוסף קארו while addressing modern state, medical and technological questions. His major works include Yabia Omer, Yechaveh Da'at and Chazon Ovadia. He received the Israel Prize in 1970.