Attitude Towards The State of Israel and Its Citizens
Yosef holds a Halakhically ambivalent view towards Zionism as the Atchalta D'geula (beginning of the redemption). Religious Zionists, in contrast, view Israel as the first flowering of the redemption. In a well-known Halakhic ruling regarding the saying of Hallel on Yom Haatzmaut, Yosef writes that although the Jewish people experienced a miracle with the establishment of the State of Israel, the miracle did not include all of the Jewish people and, therefore, Hallel should not be said with a blessing. Nevertheless, he writes that "If the congregation wishes to say Hallel without a blessing after the prayer service, they should not be prevented." Thus, Yosef's position can be seen as a middle ground between the Religious Zionists, among whom saying Hallel is compulsory, and the Ashkenazi Haredim, who do not say Hallel at all.
In a newspaper interview in which Shas was accused of being anti-Zionist, Yosef responded:
What is anti-Zionist? It is a lie, it is a term which they have concocted themselves. I served for ten years as a Chief Rabbi – a key public position in the State of Israel. In what way are we not Zionists? We pray for Zion, for Jerusalem and its inhabitants, for Israel and the Rabbis and their students. What is Zionist? By our understanding, a Zionist is a person who loves Zion and practices the commandment of settling the land. Whenever I am overseas I encourage Aliyah. In what way are they more Zionist than us?
In 2010, Yosef and Shas' Moetzet Chachamei HaTorah (Council of Torah Sages) approved Shas' membership in the World Zionist Organisation, making Shas the first officially Zionist Haredi party in Israel.
Read more about this topic: Ovadia Yosef
Famous quotes containing the words attitude, state, israel and/or citizens:
“As for the tenets of the Brahmans, we are not so much concerned to know what doctrines they held, as that they were held by any. We can tolerate all philosophies.... It is the attitude of these men, more than any communication which they make, that attracts us.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“There are innumerable questions to which the inquisitive mind can in this state receive no answer: Why do you and I exist? Why was this world created? Since it was to be created, why was it not created sooner?”
—Samuel Johnson (1709–1784)
“Who is the LORD, that I should heed him and let Israel go? I do not know the LORD, and I will not let Israel go.”
—Bible: Hebrew, Exodus 5:2.
Pharaoh.
“What a country calls its vital economic interests are not the things which enable its citizens to live, but the things which enable it to make war. Petrol is more likely than wheat to be a cause of international conflict.”
—Simone Weil (1909–1943)