David Yosef דוד יוסף
Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel since October 2024 and President of the Rabbinical Court of Appeals. Son of the towering halachic authority Rabbi Ovadia Yosef (Rishon LeTzion 1973-83) and brother of the previous Sephardi Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef, heir to one of the most consequential rabbinical dynasties of the modern Jewish world.
Background
Born in Jerusalem in 1957 to Rabbi Ovadia Yosef and Rabbanit Margalit, David Yosef studied at the family's beit midrash and at Yeshivat Hazon Ovadia, was ordained as a dayan (religious court judge), and built a distinguished career as a rabbi, posek (halachic decisor), and author of the multi-volume halachic work 'Halacha Berura.' He has served as rabbi of the Har Nof neighborhood in Jerusalem for decades and as a member of the Shas Council of Torah Sages. He was elected Sephardi Chief Rabbi in September 2024 by the 150-member electoral assembly and took office for a ten-year term in October 2024.
Notable record
- Author of 'Halacha Berura,' a 19-volume work organizing Sephardi halachic rulings around the Shulchan Aruch, a major contribution to contemporary Sephardi pesika
- President of the Rabbinical Court of Appeals (Beit HaDin HaRabbani HaGadol), the highest religious court for Jewish personal-status matters in Israel
- Continues his father Rabbi Ovadia Yosef's project of restoring authoritative Sephardi halachic tradition (the 'Maran' tradition of Rabbi Yosef Karo) as the central halachic voice of Sephardi Jewry in the State of Israel
- Plays a central role in conversion, marriage, and divorce policy across the Israeli rabbinical court system
Today
Serving the first years of his ten-year term as Chief Rabbi and President of the Rabbinical Court of Appeals.
Why it matters
His office anchors the halachic legitimacy of Jewish personal-status law in the State of Israel, the framework that makes Israeli marriage, divorce, and conversion fully part of the unbroken chain of Jewish religious tradition reaching back to Sinai.
Cite this page
David Yosef, Sephardi Chief Rabbi (Rishon LeTzion). The State of Israel. https://thestateofisrael.com/justice/david-yosef