An unusual protest by dozens of Sephardic yeshiva students against Shas Chairman, MK Aryeh Deri, drew a harsh and rare condemnation from the Chief Rabbinate, Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef.
The boys, whom Shas called "a handful of blasphemous youths," brought signs and posters against Deri to the "Rishon LeZion Award" conference held last night (Friday night) at the Ha'ama Building, protesting that Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef was not appointed president of Shas' Council of Torah Scholars.
Even when the moderator mentioned the name of the Shas chairman, there were boos from the same group in the hall. As reported in Haredim 10, Deri canceled his participation in the event at the last minute - and did not attend the event.
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The signs held by protesters during the event read, among other things, "We want to see our king at our head" with a picture of the Prime Minister.
However, this morning, Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef issued a strong condemnation of the protest:
""Last night at the distinguished event held at the Nation Buildings during the Rishon LeZion Award ceremony, attended by the distinguished members of the Council of Torah Sages, the Graeme Salim, the Graeme Cohen and the Graeme Mahfoud, there were a handful of young men who were disrespectful and insulted the honor of the Shlucha rabbi who gave his life for the Sephardic public, the very dear Shliach Sages, the R'g Rabbi Aryeh Deri, Shlita, Chairman of our movement.
And I am distressed and protesting against the lack of decency towards our friend Rabbi Rabbi Aryeh Shlita. This behavior is serious! We need unity in our movement, we are all united!
In the Torah blessing
"Yitzhak Yosef""
Last night, immediately after the reports of the protest and the boos, Deri's office issued a press release titled "Urgent consultation in light of the increasing wave of arrests.".
The announcement - alongside photos - said: "Shas Chairman Rabbi Aryeh Deri arrived this evening at the residence of the Maran Rashal Gaon Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef, shlita, for urgent consultation in light of the increasing wave of arrests against Torah scholars.".
Also participating in the meeting was "the great Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, Rosh Yeshiva 'Ohel Yosef' and member of the special committee for regulating the status of yeshiva students by the Council of Torah Sages.".
