From the Liveblog of
Sunday, June 8, 2025
Shas’s Deri meets former chief rabbi Yosef in his home after synagogue torched
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleShas chairman Aryeh Deri meets former chief rabbi Yitzhak Yosef in his home after the synagogue he prays at was torched overnight.
Yosef’s home is just meters away from the targeted Or Habib Synagogue in Jerusalem’s Sanhedria neighborhood.
They are accompanied by deputy police chief Avshalom Peled and deputy Jerusalem District commander Ronen Ovadia.
Speaking in the synagogue, Yosef’s son-in-law says the Shin Bet has begun investigating the incident alongside police.
אחרי השריפה: יו"ר ש"ס אריה דרעי כעת במעונו של מרן רבי יצחק יוסף. pic.twitter.com/kLJHoQi429
— אבי מוסקוב Avi moskoff (@AviMoskov) June 8, 2025
“Whenever we hear that a synagogue in France was damaged by an antisemite, we are all shocked. This time, it’s not in France, but the holy land,” he says. He calls the incident an antisemitic attack targeting Yosef and his family.
“The books of Rabbi Ovadia Yosef and Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef were burned,” he says, referring to Yosef’s late father, the widely renowned spiritual leader of Israel’s Sephardi Jews.
The damage to the synagogue is limited to one corner of the building. The perpetrator torched dozens of books he took from a shelf, and broke a window.
The Times of Israel Community.