Ya'akov Yosef
{{Short description|Rabbi and Israeli politician}}
{{similar names|Jacob Joseph (disambiguation)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2021}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| image = Yaakov Yosef (Israeli rabbi).jpg
| caption = Yosef in June 2008
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1946|10|18|df=y}}
| birth_place = {{nowrap|Jerusalem, Mandatory Palestine}}
| death_date = {{Death date |2013|04|12|df=y}} (Aged 66)
| death_place = Jerusalem
| suboffice1 = Shas
| office1 = Faction represented in the Knesset
| subterm1 = 1984–1988
| native_name = יעקב יוסף
| native_name_lang = he
}}
Ya'akov Yosef ({{langx|he|יעקב יוסף}}{{ltr}}; 18 October 1946 – 12 April 2013){{cite web|url=http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/167050|title=Rabbi Yaakov Yosef Passes Away|author=Benari, Elad|publisher=Arutz Sheva, (Israel National News)|date=12 April 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130414210750/http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/167050|archive-date=14 April 2013|access-date=13 April 2013|url-status=live|quote=Rabbi Yaakov Chai Yosef, rabbi of the Givat Moshe neighborhood of Jerusalem and son of Shas's spiritual leader Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, Shlita, passed away on Friday afternoon at the Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital.}} was an Israeli rabbi and politician who served as a member of the Knesset for Shas between 1984 and 1988.
Early life
Ya'akov Yosef (Jacob Joseph) was born in Jerusalem towards the end of the Mandate era, the second child (oldest son) of Ovadia Yosef, a prominent rabbi.{{Cite news|url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3709700,00.html|title=Rabbi: Older bachelors must leave Jerusalem|last=Brackman|first=Levi|date=3 May 2009|work=Ynetnews|access-date=4 May 2009}} He was educated in the Porat Yosef and Kol Torah yeshivas in Bayit VeGan. He was later certified as a rabbi at the Rav Kook Institute.
Political Career
In the early 1980s, Yosef became a member of the new Shas party founded by his father, and represented it on Jerusalem city council between 1983 and 1984.[https://www.knesset.gov.il/mk/eng/mk_eng.asp?mk_individual_id_t=189 Yaakov Yosef: Public Activities] Knesset website In 1984, he was elected to the Knesset on the Shas list, and sat on the Constitution, Law and Justice Committee, the Education and Culture Committee and the Parliamentary Inquiry Committee for Traffic Accidents, until he was removed from the Shas electoral list for the 1988 elections, at his father's behest.{{cite web |title=Rabbi's rebel son is behind race lawsuit |url=https://www.thejc.com/news/israel/rabbis-rebel-son-is-behind-race-lawsuit-oeb3e84n |website=The Jewish Chronicle |access-date=10 February 2024}} He later dissented from his father's political positions, especially as relates to peace negotiations with Palestinians.
In 2008, he said that Shas had "lost its moral right to exist" because of its participation in governments that engaged in these negotiations.{{cite web |last1=Weiss |first1=Efrat |title=בן הרב עובדיה סוגר חשבון עם ש"ס ומחפש מפלגה |url=https://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-3554097,00.html |website=ynet |access-date=10 February 2024}} Yosef was detained by police under suspicion of incitement to violence and racism, after he wrote an approbation for a book that justifies the killing of non-Jews.{{cite web |last1=Hasson |first1=Nir |last2=Kubovich |first2=Yaniv |last3=Haaretz |title=Son of Shas Spiritual Leader Probed for Incitement to Racism |url=https://www.haaretz.com/2011-07-03/ty-article/son-of-shas-spiritual-leader-probed-for-incitement-to-racism/0000017f-db2c-df62-a9ff-dfff0d1f0000 |website=Haaretz |access-date=10 February 2024}}
His son, Yonatan Yosef, a prominent Jerusalem rabbi,{{cite web|url=http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/172033|title=King has New List|last=Ross|first=Adam|publisher=Arutz Sheva|date=18 September 2013}}{{cite web|url=http://www.theyeshivaworld.com/news/headlines-breaking-stories/186812/rav-ovadias-grandson-enters-jerusalem-race.html|title=Rav Ovadia's Grandson Enters Jerusalem Race|publisher=Yeshiva World News|date=17 September 2013}} is the spokesman for Jewish Settlers in Sheikh Jarrah,{{cite news|url=http://www.haaretz.com/mobile/the-orthodox-jews-fighting-the-judaization-of-east-jerusalem-1.298113?v=2C459444594A3974D44A3D4810AB951B|title=The Orthodox Jews fighting the Judaization of East Jerusalem|last=Hasson|first=Nir|newspaper=Haaretz|date=24 June 2010}} and a prominent activists for the Judaization of East Jerusalem.{{cite news|url=http://www.haaretz.com/jewish-world/jewish-world-news/rabbi-yaakov-yosef-son-of-shas-spiritual-leader-ovadia-yosef-dies-at-66-1.515189|title=Rabbi Yaakov Yosef, son of Shas spiritual leader Ovadia Yosef, dies at 66|newspaper=Haaretz|date=12 April 2013}} In 2013, Yonatan ran for Jerusalem City Council.{{cite web|url=http://www.israelnationalnews.com/wap/Item.aspx?type=0&item=172255|title=Jerusalem Mayor Candidates to Address English Speakers|publisher=Arutz Sheva|date=27 September 2013}}
Rabbinic career
He was the head of the Hazon Ya'akov yeshiva (which is named after his grandfather), and the rabbi for the Givat Moshe neighbourhood in Jerusalem. His brother, Avraham, was the chief rabbi of Holon.{{Cite web|url=http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1023457.html|title=Religious Zionists could gain historic foothold in rabbinate |last=Ettinger |first=Yair|date=24 September 2008|work=Haaretz|access-date=5 May 2009}}
In 2004, his father overruled one of Yosef's Halakhic rulings, which forbade soldiers from eating food provided by the army, condemning it as "inciteful."[http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/Flash.aspx/59359 Rabbi Yosef Dismisses his Son's Halachic Ruling] Israel National News, 14 March 2004
Controversy
On 3 July 2011, Yosef was arrested on suspicion of incitement to racism for his endorsement of the book The King's Torah, after he failed to report to the police for questioning, and released shortly thereafter.{{cite news |author=Nir Hasson, Yaniv Kubovich and Haaretz |title=Son of Shas spiritual leader probed for incitement to racism |url=http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/son-of-shas-spiritual-leader-probed-for-incitement-to-racism-1.371031 |newspaper=Haaretz |date=3 July 2011 |access-date=3 July 2011}} The arrest and questioning sparked protests among his supporters.{{cite news |title=Arrest of Rabbi Yaakov Yosef sparks haredi Orthodox protests |url=http://www.jta.org/news/article/2011/07/03/3088397/arrest-of-rabbi-yaakov-yosef-sparks-haredi-orthodox-protests |publisher=JTA |date=3 July 2011 |access-date=3 July 2011 |archive-date=7 July 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110707095113/http://www.jta.org/news/article/2011/07/03/3088397/arrest-of-rabbi-yaakov-yosef-sparks-haredi-orthodox-protests |url-status=dead }}
In November 2012, during Operation Pillar of Defense, Yosef said in a sermon in Hebron, West Bank: "The IDF
Illness and death
On 12 April 2013, at the age of 66, Yosef died in Jerusalem's Hadassah Ein Kerem hospital around a year after being diagnosed with cancer. He was buried in the Har Hamenuchot cemetery.
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{MKlink|id=189}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yosef, Yaakov}}
Category:City councillors of Jerusalem
Category:Deaths from pancreatic cancer in Israel
Category:Orthodox Jews in Mandatory Palestine
Category:Members of the 11th Knesset (1984–1988)
Category:Politicians from Jerusalem
Category:Rabbinic members of the Knesset
Category:Sephardic Haredi rabbis in Israel