September 19, 2010 The News From Egypt and Syria, Rabbi Ovaidia is 90

The news from Israel today comes from both the North and the South. From the South, Egypt has warned about the possibility of a terror attack from the Sinai. There are reports of a gun fight between Egyptian troops and Hamas supported terrorists. Today, Egypt arrested the head of Hamas intelliegence Mahmoud Babas. It seems Egypt is mounting an all out fight with Hamas.

In the North, on the other hand, Bashir Assad received a visit from Ahmedinejad, who is on his way to the United Nations, for his annual pilgramage of insults. Israel has been outspoken in its criticism of the sale of Russian Anti-ship missiles to Syria. Syria has been trying to buy these missiles since the Hezbollah seccessfuly attacked an Israeli naval ship during the second Lebanon war. What the Syrians seemed to have forgotten is that attack was successful since the Israeli ship had its anti missile counter measures turned off. While the Russian missile is more advanced, it is not a totally new technology, and represents a technology that both the US and Israel have been working to counter for many years.

Today is Rabbi Ovadia Yosef's 90th birthday. There have been a number of retrospective looks at his life. One key factor they all shared is a sense that Yosef will be the last great Sephardic Rabbi. The reason commentators cited for this prediction, is that the majority ofYosef's disciples have preferred acceptance in the Ashkenaz community, as opposed to furthering any of the halachically moderate views that Yosef has often written.