Former chief rabbi Ovadia Yosef hospitalized

Shas spiritual leader, 92, in stable condition and conscious after being rushed to intensive care at Hadassah

Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, spiritual leader and founder of the Shas party, was taken by paramedics to the internal intensive care unit at Hadassah Ein Kerem hospital in Jerusalem Sunday night.

Yosef, 92, who had been to the hospital earlier in the day for tests before being released to recover at home, is receiving antibiotics for an infection, is fully conscious and on a respirator, according to Israel Radio.

The former chief rabbi has been in and out of the hospital for much of 2013 since suffering a minor stroke in January.

He was slightly injured in a fainting spell and underwent surgery for severe back pain in July, and was just released from the hospital last Thursday after being admitted August 25 with a recurrence of back pain.