About 500,000 turned out for Rabbi Yosef's funeral procession, making it one of Israel's largest. Photo / AP
Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, a leading religious scholar known for landmark rulings in Jewish law and for playing a key role in the political empowerment of Sephardic Jews of Middle Eastern origins, has died aged 93.
About half a million filled the streets of Jerusalem for his funeral procession, one of
the largest ever held in Israel.
Religious seminary student Yehuda Fisch, who was among the mourners, said: "He advanced people from downtrodden places and lifted them up. He conveyed a lot of love."
But Yosef was also controversial, known for his derogatory pronouncements about non-Jews, Arabs, gays and secular Jews. He even offended Holocaust survivors, saying those who perished were the reincarnated souls of sinners being punished.
Iraqi-born Yosef, founder and spiritual leader of the Shas political party, a kingmaker in several Israeli coalition governments, was hospitalised last month critically ill with kidney failure.
