Top rabbi suspends himself from kosher certification
Avraham Yosef’s decision follows accusations that he used his political position to advance his family’s company
Rabbi Avraham Yosef, chief Sephardic rabbi of the city of Holon and son of the late spiritual and political leader Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, declared Sunday that he was taking a break from administering various services, amid swirling allegations of fraud.
Yosef said he would stop issuing kosher certifications for food establishments, passing on the responsibility to the city’s chief Ashkenazi rabbi.
His decision comes in the shadow of a petition submitted by Ne’emanei Torah Va’Avodah, an organization that seeks to promote moderate Orthodoxy in Israel, to the Supreme Court calling for his suspension.
Yosef was indicted last December on charges of fraud and breach of trust, for advancing a kosher certification company owned by his family, which represented a conflict of interest with his position as chief rabbi.
Avraham Yosef is not the only son of the late spiritual leader to face recent criminal controversy.
Rabbi Moshe Yosef, his youngest son, is suspected of tax evasion, after allegedly failing to pay taxes on some NIS 19 million (almost $5 million) in personal income in recent years. Moshe Yosef was informed of an investigation against him by the Israel Tax Authority in February.
Ovadia Yosef died in October 2013 at the age of 93. His funeral in Jerusalem drew some 800,000 mourners, according to some reports, the largest in Israeli history. He was the preeminent religious leader of the Sephardic ultra-Orthodox community in Israel and the mentor of the Shas party.
