Between November 6 and 12, 2025, the Rishon LeZion and Sephardic Chief Rabbi of the State of Israel, Rabbi David Yosef, paid an official visit to Argentina. His agenda included meetings with Jewish communities, educational institutions, rabbinic leaders, and national authorities.
The visit of this distinguished religious leader—organized by Menora, the World Jewish Youth Organization, chaired by the Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Buenos Aires, Rabbi Isaac Sacca—was an event of great importance for the Argentine Jewish community and for interreligious dialogue in the country.
During his stay, the Chief Rabbi led a number of key activities at Menora | Chella & Moise Safra, where he delivered lectures, training sessions, and held meetings with young people and community leaders. He also visited the Camargo Synagogue, where he offered blessings and congratulated the families of the Sephardic Community on their communal growth, as well as the Bereshit School, where students welcomed him with specially prepared songs. The Rishon LeZion was deeply moved by this reception and proceeded to bless the teaching and administrative staff, along with the students, who represent the future and continuity of Torah values. His visit concluded at the new annex building of the Bereshit School, soon to be inaugurated.
In addition, the Rishon LeZion visited several prominent Jewish communities in Buenos Aires, including Shaare Sion, Agudat Dodim, Yeshurun, Toratenu, the Kollel and Yeshiva of the Yesod Hadat community, El Hogar Bet Sion, Peer Hadaat, Ohalei Chinuch, Baderech, Or Torah, and Shuba Israel. In each location, he addressed rabbis and community members, strengthening the spiritual and cultural ties between Israel and Jewish communities throughout the Diaspora.
He also visited the square of the Israeli Embassy and held a meeting with President Javier Milei at the Casa Rosada.
The visit took place in a context marked by the release of the hostages from the October 7, 2023 attack and represented the first visit to Argentina since then by a spiritual leader of such prominence in the Jewish world. At every meeting, the Chief Rabbi conveyed a message of unity, hope, and commitment to peace, encouraging the strengthening of bonds between Israel and Jewish communities worldwide.
Born in Jerusalem, Chief Rabbi David Yosef studied at some of Israel’s most prestigious yeshivot, including Porat Yosef and Kol Yaakov, where he received rabbinic ordination from his father, the late Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, zt”l. From a young age, he was recognized for his exceptional scholarship in Halacha (Jewish law) and for his clarity as an educator. He currently serves as president of the Iehave Daat Academy of Jewish Religious Studies, an institution he founded and directs in Jerusalem, dedicated to the training of rabbis and Torah scholars.
A prolific halachic authority, Chief Rabbi David Yosef has published more than a dozen scholarly volumes, including the monumental Halacha Berura series—internationally recognized for its depth and systematic methodology—as well as the Torat HaMoadim series, devoted to the laws of Jewish festivals. He is also the author of Halachot LeMaaseh, Torat HaMikra, and numerous works of Talmudic analysis and responsa, which today serve as reference texts in yeshivot and kollelim around the world.
His work is distinguished by rigorous scholarship combined with a clear, practical, and accessible approach, bringing Halacha closer to students, rabbis, and the broader public.
Throughout his public career, Rabbi Yosef has been widely recognized for his commitment to Jewish unity, interreligious dialogue, and the transmission of Judaism’s ethical values in international forums, including the Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions held in Kazakhstan in September 2023, which brought together religious leaders from more than sixty countries.
As the son of Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, zt”l—who served as Sephardic Chief Rabbi of the State of Israel from 1973 to 1983 and was one of the most influential figures in modern Judaism—Rabbi David Yosef continues a legacy of spiritual leadership grounded in teaching, study, and the pursuit of peace. His father also visited Argentina in 1975, 1981, and 1993, strengthening a historic bond between Israel’s Sephardic rabbinic leadership and the Argentine Jewish community.
The presence of Israel’s Sephardic Chief Rabbi in Argentina renewed a spirit of encounter, cooperation, and the transmission of values that characterize Judaism and its message of universal hope.
Source: ItonGadol
