Rabbi Ovadia Yosef’s sons gathered Saturday night to continue the tradition of his weekly Saturday night Torah class, despite his passing several days earlier. Hundreds of people crowded the mourner’s tent outside the rabbi’s home to hear them speak.
The speeches were also broadcast to a screen outdoors for the sake of the many people left outside the tent.
Rabbi Yosef’s sons spoke about their deceased father’s legacy, and called on their listeners to strive for self-improvement in the fields of Torah study and mitzvah [commandment] observance.
On Sunday evening a memorial ceremony will be held at Bar Ilan intersection in Jerusalem to mark one week since Rabbi Ovadia Yosef’s death. Police plan to shut down several roads in the area beginning at 3:30 p.m., among them parts of the following streets: Yirmiyahu, Bar Ilan, Golda Meir, Shmuel Hanavi and Levy Eshkol.
The Sanhedria neighborhood cemetery - where Rabbi Yosef is buried, and which has become a place of pilgrimage for his followers since his passing - will be closed from 2 p.m. to anyone without special authorization.