Rav Yoram Michael Abergel, one of the leading Sephardic haredi rabbis, passed away today (Saturday). His funeral will take place at 10:30 pm tonight, setting out from his yeshiva in Netivot.
Rav Abergel had been sick for several months, and frequently had to be hospitalized. He spent the past week in the emergency care ward of Tel Hashomer Hospital, where he ultimately passed away.
He was born in the southern moshav of Brosh, after his parents made aliyah from Morocco. As a youth he studied at the "Bet Yehuda" Bnei Akiva yeshiva in Kfar Maimon, and then in the Hevron and Negev yeshivot. After marrying, he continued studying in the Bet Yisrael Kolel in Netivot.
Rav Abergel came to be considered one of the leading figures among Sephardic haredim, and oversaw a chain of yeshivot and kollels that teach thousands of students across the country.