January 13, 2013

JERUSALEM (JTA) — Haredi Orthodox Shas Party spiritual leader Rabbi Ovadia Yosef was discharged from the hospital a day after being admitted for a minor stroke.

Yosef, 92, left Hadassah Ein Kerem Medical Center in Jerusalem on Sunday morning, hours after getting up to greet followers waiting outside his hospital room.

The rabbi has been ordered to rest for several days. It had been reported earlier that he would remain in the hospital for a few days to undergo observation.

Yosef reportedly felt numbness in his hand early Saturday morning but would not call a doctor or go to the hospital on Shabbat. He became ill during synagogue services on Saturday morning and was ordered to the hospital by a worshipper who is a doctor.

He has a heart condition and had his third angioplasty in 2006

The episode came ten days before Israelis vote for a new Knesset. Whether or not the Shas Party has chosen to join previous government coalitions was due in large part to Yosef.
 

Help us tell the Jewish story with reporting from around the world. Please donate to JTA.

Click to write a letter to the editor.

This article was made possible by the support of readers like you. Donate to JTA now.