The petirah of Chacham Shalom Cohen zt”l, nosi of the Moetzet Chachmei Hatorah, rosh yeshiva of Porat Yosef, and leader of the Sephardic public for the past nine years, has left a gaping void, especially in the Sephardic public.
On the eve of elections, Chacham Shalom used to go out and call for the public to support Shas. Now, Shas is left without a spiritual leader. So who will replace Chacham Shalom?
The members of the Sephardic Moetzet Chachmei Hatorah are: Rav Shimon Baadani, Rav Moshe Maya, Rav Reuven Elbaz, and Rav David Yosef.
The prominent name to replace Chacham Shalom as nosi is Rav Baadani, 94. Also mentioned is Rav Yitzchak Yosef, who is the Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Israel. In order to serve as nosi of the Moetzet, he would be forced to resign from his official Chief Rabbi position or wait for the end of his term in over a year.
In the meantime, Rav Baadani will serve as the de facto leader of the Moetzet, but with the title of “elder of the Moetzet members.”
Shas may seek to add new members to the Moetzet as well.
{Matzav.com Israel}
It’s cute how the article reads Nosi and and not Nasi, as they, the Sefaradim pronounce it!
Matzav editors are obviously not Sefardim and wouldn’t want it to sound mocking them if they’d pronounce it their way. Sefardim also don’t pronounce chassidic terminologies the way chassidim do.
No one will take over as “Nosi.” But I’m sure someone will take over as “Nasi.”
I’m sure that R’ Aryeh Deri will figure it out. It’s his job.