We are less than a week away from the first Yahrtzheit of Maran HaRav Ovadia Yosef zt”l (3rd day of Cheshvan), whose loss has made a deep impression upon millions of people from all walks of life. The following is a well-known account from his younger years. In the Porat Yosef Yeshiva, a young student suddenly went missing. The staff was clueless as to this student’s whereabouts. After several days, the famed Rosh Yeshiva, Hacham Ezra Attiya (1885-1970) one of the greatest Torah scholars in the 20th century in the Sephardic world (his students included Hacham Ben Tzion Abba Shaul, Rav Kaduri, and more) became very concerned and decided to pay a visit to the student’s home. When Hacham Attiya spoke to the father, the father explained that the family business was a small grocery store and he needed the help of his son as a delivery boy. The Hacham attempted to convince the father of the importance of Torah study, and tried to find a solution to the manpower issue, but it was to no avail. The father would not budge. The next morning when the father went to the store, he was shocked to find Hacham Attiya, the Rosh Yeshiva himself, standing outside the store in work clothes. When questioned by the father he replied, “Your son’s learning is unquestionably more important than mine and you are murdering the Gadol (great rabbi) of the next generation. So I will be your delivery boy in his place. Just send your son back to yeshiva! The father understood the seriousness of the Rabbi and sent his son back to the study halls. This boy turned out to be Hacham Ovadia Yosef ztl.
Posted on: Tue, 21 Oct 2014 04:41:25 +0000
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