Avraham Yosef () is the former

chief rabbi Chief Rabbi () is a title given in several countries to the recognized religious leader of that country's Jewish community, or to a rabbinic leader appointed by the local secular authorities. Since 1911, through a capitulation by Ben-Zion Meir ...

Holon Holon (, ) is a city in the Tel Aviv District of Israel, located south of Tel Aviv. Holon is part of the Gush Dan, Gush Dan metropolitan area. In , it had a population of , making it the List of cities in Israel, tenth most populous city in Isra ...

and

Sephardi Sephardic Jews, also known as Sephardi Jews or Sephardim, and rarely as Iberian Peninsular Jews, are a Jewish diaspora population associated with the historic Jewish communities of the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal) and their descendant ...

representative on the Chief Rabbinate Council (Moetzet Harabbanut Harashit). He stepped down from his positions after pleading guilty to breach of trust, after using his office to promote his family's financial interests.

Background

Avraham Yosef is a son of

Shas Shas () is a Haredi Judaism, Haredi religious List of political parties in Israel, political party in Israel. Founded in 1984 by Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, a former Israeli Sephardic Jews, Sephardi chief rabbi, who remained its spiritual leader until ...

' spiritual leader, and former Israeli chief rabbi,

Ovadia Yosef Ovadia Yosef (, ; September 24, 1920 – October 7, 2013) also known as Maran (Hebrew language, Hebrew: מרן) "Our Master", was an History of the Jews in Iraq#Otoman rule, Iraqi-born Talmudic scholar, hakham, posek, and the Sephardi Jews, Sephar ...

, and a brother of rabbi Yaakov Yosef, a

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

who was a member of the eleventh Knesset. Yosef served for thirteen years in the

Military Rabbinate The Military Rabbinate (, ''Heil HaRabanut HaTzvait'') is a corps in the Israel Defense Forces that provides religious services to soldiers, primarily to Jews, but also including non-Jews, and makes decisions on issues of religion and military a ...

and in 2013 would be the first choice of his father to be nominated for the position of Sepharadi

but would pull out due to negative publicity concerning a 2010 ruling on judges joining a prayer

minyan In Judaism, a ''minyan'' ( ''mīnyān'' , Literal translation, lit. (noun) ''count, number''; pl. ''mīnyānīm'' ) is the quorum of ten Jewish adults required for certain Mitzvah, religious obligations. In more traditional streams of Judaism ...

Chief Rabbi of Holon

Nissim Leon, of Bar-Ilan University, researches the Shas movement and says that Avraham Yosef is a new rising star worthy of note for the political party. Leon states that, "Rabbi Avraham Yosef is building up his reputation using a similar method to his father's, combining halakhic rulings with lectures and classes for large audiences. Among other things, he is a very popular halakhic arbiter on the

Haredi Haredi Judaism (, ) is a branch of Orthodox Judaism that is characterized by its strict interpretation of religious sources and its accepted (Jewish law) and traditions, in opposition to more accommodating values and practices. Its members are ...

radio station

Kol Chai Kol Chai () is a Haredi and National Religious radio station in Israel established in 1996. The station, based in Bnei Brak, broadcasts six days a week, though not on Shabbat. Frequencies Contributors ;Current *David Lau * Mordechai Lavi * A ...

." In 2015, Yosef was indicted for fraud and breach of trust over allegations that he had used his position as chief rabbi to advance the business interests of his family's kosher food certification. Yosef was convicted for breach of trust in 2017, for forcing local businesses to use his family's certification. He had reached a plea agreement with the prosecution to resign all his communal offices, and not to take another public position for 7 years after his conviction.

2007 Rabbinate shmita decision

During 2007, Sephardic and

Ashkenazi Ashkenazi Jews ( ; also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim) form a distinct subgroup of the Jewish diaspora, that Ethnogenesis, emerged in the Holy Roman Empire around the end of the first millennium Common era, CE. They traditionally spe ...

rabbis were at odds over whether to allow the sale of land in order to permit its cultivation during

shmita The sabbath year (''shmita''; , literally "release"), also called the sabbatical year or ''shǝvi'it'' (, literally "seventh"), or "Sabbath of The Land", is the seventh year of the seven-year agricultural cycle mandated by the Torah in the Lan ...

. Later in the year, the Chief Rabbinate set up a special body, headed by rabbis Ze'ev Weitman and Avraham Yosef to implement heter mechira.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yosef, Avraham Living people Egyptian Jews Ovadia Yosef Iraqi Jews Israeli Mizrahi Jews Sephardic Haredi rabbis in Israel 21st-century Israeli rabbis Holon Year of birth missing (living people) Chief rabbis of populated places in Israel