I’m too distraught at the moment to fully formulate my thoughts…So I will surely have more to say about this tragic event later. In the meantime, let me remark that Rav Ovadiah Z”L was without a doubt the greatest Sephardic scholar of (at least) the past several centuries. He possessed a legendary and encyclopedic mastery of Jewish Law and was deeply sensitive and compassionate in his leadership and his halakhic decision making.

An awe-inspiring luminary who towered above and commanded the respect of Ashkenazic and Sephardic rabbis alike, Hakham Ovadiah Z”L enabled us (Sephardim) to take pride in the customs, traditions and Torah scholars that are uniquely our own. He was the architect of a renaissance of Sephardic learning and culture of which we have all been the beneficiaries and his legacy will impact countless generations. May his memory be a blessing.