Biography
Qafiḥ was born in (27 November 1917) in Sana’a in Yemen . His father was Rabbi David Qafiḥ. He died when his son was one year old. At the age of five Rabbi Yosef lost his mother, and was raised by and learned Torah with his grandfather Rabbi Yiḥyah Qafiḥ. When Yosef was 14 his grandfather died and he inherited his position as rabbinic authority and teacher of the Sana’a community. In his early years he worked as a silversmith.
In 1943 he immigrated to Palestine, studied at the Merkaz HaRav yeshiva and qualified as a dayan at the Harry Fischel Institute. In 1950 he was appointed as a dayan in the Jerusalem district court, and later was appointed as a dayan at the Supreme Rabbinical Court. He was a member of the Chief Rabbinate Council of Israel, and presided over the Yemenite community in Jerusalem, as well as spreading Rabbi Tzvi Yehuda Kook's teachings among the Israeli Sephardi populace. He died on 21 July 2000 at the age of 82.
Read more about this topic: Yosef Qafih
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