Hundreds of talmidim from Eretz Yisroel and abroad joined Jerusalem residents mourning the loss of HaRav David Ovadia, one of Morocco's leading rabbonim, who held aloft the banner of Yiddishkeit for decades.
He was born in Iyar 5673 (1913) to the author of Yismach Levov in the city of Sefrou, where he was raised in a home imbued with a sense of dedication to Torah and mitzvah.
At the age of 29 he was appointed rov of a kehilloh and for 21 years was the youngest dayan in all of Morocco.
Before moving to Eretz Hakodesh he served in the rabbinate in Sefrou, Fes and Marrakech, devoting his energies to setting up Torah institutions. He was known in particular for his unflinching battle against the Alliance Israelite Universelle, which was notorious for introducing non-religious education in north Africa.
In 5724 (1964) he moved to Eretz Yisroel, where he served as a member of the Rabbinate Bureau in Jerusalem. Though offered rabbinical posts in other cities, he would not hear of leaving Jerusalem.
The levaya, which set out from his beis medrash, Yismach Lev, in Jerusalem's Bayit Vegan neighborhood, was led by HaRav Boruch Mordechai Ezrachi, HaRav Yehuda Adas and HaRav Moshe Schlesinger.
The hespeidim were delivered by HaRav Gavriel Toledano, rosh yeshiva of Yeshivat Or Baruch, HaRav Yitzchok Ezrachi, one of the roshei yeshiva of Yeshivas Mir, HaRav Shimon Vizman, rosh yeshiva of Yeshivat Sefrou in Morocco, HaRav Yosef Toledano, and the niftar's son, HaRav Pinchas.
