(Ynet).Shas' spiritual leader, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, slammed Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in his weekly sermon Saturday evening, referring to the Iranian president as "Haman of our generation" and saying that he "can go to hell".
The rabbi, who dedicated his address to Jewish laws related to the holiday of Purim, spoke about the followers of Haman, the grand vizier of Persia. "In every generation we have Hamans," he said. "Now we have a new Haman in Persia, threatening us with his nukes."
In the halachic part of his sermon, Rabbi Yosef ruled that Sephardic students in Ashkenazi yeshivot should not take part in the prayer quorum on the Saturday before Purim in order to read the "Zachor" Torah portion separately, according to their custom.
He explained that listening to the verses, which discuss Amalek's war on Israel, is a Torah mitzvah and therefore each person must do it according to the common pronunciation in their own community.
The rabbi, who dedicated his address to Jewish laws related to the holiday of Purim, spoke about the followers of Haman, the grand vizier of Persia. "In every generation we have Hamans," he said. "Now we have a new Haman in Persia, threatening us with his nukes."
In the halachic part of his sermon, Rabbi Yosef ruled that Sephardic students in Ashkenazi yeshivot should not take part in the prayer quorum on the Saturday before Purim in order to read the "Zachor" Torah portion separately, according to their custom.
He explained that listening to the verses, which discuss Amalek's war on Israel, is a Torah mitzvah and therefore each person must do it according to the common pronunciation in their own community.