NOTE: I was not paid to review this book. It is an unbiased and objective review. If you have a book with Jewish or Israel related content and would like me to write a review, contact me for details of where to send me a review copy of the book.

Book Review: Maran HaRav Ovadia, by Rabbi Yehuda Heimowitz

I will start off with an honest statement- this is a book I probably never would have bought. Rav Ovadia was a great man, and he lived in our generation, but I thought I basically knew enough about him, and I was not a follower of his. Especially it being an "Artscroll biography", I would just pass by this book in the book store, deeming it uninteresting to me.

Boy, would I have been wrong.

Maran HaRav Ovadia is a captivating biography of a great man, bu tit is more than just that. Heimowitz does a fabulous job giving so much historical background of the times in order to give the reader a better understanding of Rav Ovadia; of what he had to deal with, what made him tick, what his challenges were, and how he overcame them.

Maran HaRav Ovadia is the life story about Rav Ovadia Yosef, and it is also so much a historical overview of Israel in its pre-State form, the early days of the State and throughout the history of modern Israel, Egypt, the challenges of public office, dealings with politicians, and of course, as I said, about the various aspects of the greatness of Rav Ovadia himself. 

The book goes through all the periods of Rav Ovadia's life, from when he was a small child until his death.

Yes, this is a typical "Artscroll biography" in the sense that the biography makes it seem like he had no personal failings, was so great he was like an angel, never did anything wrong, and all the other complaints about Artscroll biographies. And that is ok. Those complaints do not bother me, as a biography need not focus on the failings of the leader, if that is not the point of the book, but on his successes.

So, right from the start, we know Rav Ovadia is unusually great. He has a tremendous mind, a tremendous capability of sitting for hours and hours and hours and focusing and not getting distracted, he has tremendous hasmada, he probably had a photographic memory - though the book doesn't explicitly say so. As a young rabbinical student and as a young rabbi he was dynamic and charismatic, and he did not stand down when he felt an issue needed to be dealt with a certain way. All that together does not make a leader, and it does not even necessarily make a great person.

Rav Ovadia, however, was a leader who had tremendous influence on Israeli society, both those that directly put themselves under his authority and also for those that did not. And it was not just Israeli society, but even world sephardic Jewry.

Rav Ovadia was also a person who was very caring for other people, and there are fascinating stories in the book that show how he cared for those that came to consult with him and ask for his blessings.

Much of the book is dedicated to showing that.

However, the main focus of the book seems to be showing Rav Ovadia in the light of his concern for the Torah, and for the relationship Sephardic Jewry would have with it. Everything he did was to spread the Torah, learning and observance, among Sephardic Jewry. To bring them back to their days of glory. Rav Ovadia was tremendously dedicated to giving shiurim to anybody who asked him to for any group, and he instructed his kids to do the same, so that they could spread the word of the Torah. According to the book, even his formation and leadership of Shas was really to assist in the spreading of Torah.

That was really all that concerned him.

According to the book, Rav Ovadia dedicated just 10 minutes a day to giving directions to the political party of Shas, unless there were emergencies that required his attention. Politics did not interest him - only spreading Torah.

The book is filled with both fascinating history, and fascinating personal anecdotes.

Having seen Rav Ovadia and lived in Israel, and even near him for a few years, I thought I knew enough about Rav Ovadia. This book really gives a very broad perspective into understanding who Rav Ovadia is and what he wanted to do.

One short-coming I found in the book is that at times it talks of his "detractors" in different issues he was involved in. It never really explained what they wanted from him, why they were detractors, and I would have liked to hear more about that.

I was really impressed with the book Maran HaRav Ovadia, and I read the nearly 600 pages very quickly - it is a very fluid read. On its own I probably wouldnt have bothered buying it, but I am really happy I had the opportunity to read it. I think you will too, even if just to get an understanding into who Rav Ovadia was and what he was made of, but also to understand his life and the issues he was involved in, looking back, and to get a better perspective of what he accomplished, and what he was trying to accomplish..

buy Maran HaRav Ovadia on Amazon.com

buy Maran HaRav Ovadia on Artscroll Mesorah



NOTE: I was not paid to review this book. It is an unbiased and objective review. If you have a book with Jewish or Israel related content and would like me to write a review, contact me for details of where to send me a review copy of the book.