Thousands of people, including prominent rabbis and politicians, arrived on Tuesday at Jerusalem's Kablan Street, to comfort the mourning family of Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, who passed away on Monday at the age of 93. A large tent was erected across from the rabbi's home where his sons greeted the many guests. Among the guests were Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara. Yosef's sons took the opportunity to level criticism at the prime minister over the law, advanced by his government, that would compel ultra-Orthodox students to serve in the military. Rabbi Avraham Yosef, one of Ovadia's sons, reminded the prime minister that he had met with his father on the issue some six months ago, and said that Netanyahu offended the late rabbi when he neglected to get back to him with an answer. "We are still waiting," Avraham Yosef said. "We feel that it was his most important wish. He said these words to me: 'I have lost a son, but what is being done to the Torah world hurts more.'" Netanyahu defended his government, saying, "We are making every effort to unite the [Israeli] people." A source at the Prime Minister's Office said Tuesday that the criticism against the prime minister had been anticipated. "This scenario was definitely taken into account, but it was important for the prime minister to come and pay his respects to the rabbi that he so admired. Therefore, he made sure to answer with restraint, out of respect for the dead," the source said. Shas Chairman MK Aryeh Deri addressed the incident, saying Tuesday, "It was very important to the rabbi to protect the Torah world. It is a world that he had built, the Sephardi Torah world. It was not politics, but rather the rabbi's last will and testament to try to preserve it. They [Yosef's sons] were trying to communicate this message to the prime minister. It is a source of great pain for them, and they passed that pain onto the prime minister." Earlier, Deri also visited the tent of mourners, saying, "It is difficult to comprehend that he is no longer with us, when you see his empty chair at his house." Shas member MK Eli Yishai also eulogized the revered rabbi, saying, "It is difficult to describe what it is to wake up to such a reality. Rabbi Ovadia Yosef was the Moses of our generation." Yishai also remarked on the masses of people who attended the rabbi's funeral, saying, "You could see that the rabbi was not just Shas' rabbi, as some people are trying to portray him." President Shimon Peres also came to offer condolences, telling the mourners that "it wasn't easy to truly get to know [him]. He genuinely loved the people of Israel, and he didn't believe that we are divided in two but rather that we are one people, which he very much wanted to unite. He made every effort to be a part of the people, precisely because he was spiritually lofty. The people gave him the most beautiful eulogy simply by arriving by the thousand in Jerusalem [for the funeral]. He loved the people, and the people loved him." Justice Minister Tzipi Livni visited the rabbi's daughters on Tuesday, telling them, "I could have been upset over some of the remarks made by the rabbi over the years, but we mustn't, and cannot, minimize his approach to Judaism, a lenient approach that brings people together, releases agunot [women stuck in unwanted marriages who cannot obtain divorces] and seeks to make people feel close to one another. I believe that the people who came to cry about his death did it because of this approach and because of what he was for them." Even British Ambassador to Israel Matthew Gould arrived at the rabbi's house on Tuesday and said, "I came to pay my respects to Rabbi Yosef. I had the honor of getting to know him a little. His death is an enormous loss to Shas, to Israel and to the Jewish people." "My cheek is still stinging from the slap he gave me," Gould joked, referring to Yosef's habit of affectionately slapping his associates. Many young people also came to pay their respects. Yerucham, 16, who attends the Har Nof yeshiva in Jerusalem, said that he had once had the great honor of attending one of the rabbi's classes. "I was impressed with his proficiency. He was like a computer. There is no substitute for him. The leader of the Israeli people has died. The void cannot be filled. We are orphans, and will continue to be for generations to come," Yerucham said.
