Shas mentor’s son now eligible for chief rabbi
Council renews license for Yitzhak Yosef, enabling him to fulfill prerequisite for candidacy
Israel’s Chief Rabbinate Council on Wednesday renewed the rabbinical license for Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef, son of Shas spiritual mentor Ovadia Yosef, thus making him an eligible candidate for Sephardic chief rabbi.
A current rabbinical license is one of the prerequisites to be elected to the position.
On Sunday, Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein announced that his office was asked to investigate whether or not Yosef could legally be a candidate after it was revealed that his license had expired several years earlier.
The Chief Rabbinate Council was convened as per a request by the Justice Ministry to determine whether or not to renew Yosef’s license. The vote was unanimous, and according to the council, was based solely on what it called Rabbi Yosef’s greatness as a Torah scholar.