Former Israeli chief rabbi: literature won’t bring the Messiah
July 26th, 2009 by Menachem Wecker
From Yeshiva World News (my translations in square brackets for folks who don’t understand Hebrew):
Maran [Aramaic for “our master”/Wikipedia] Rav Ovadia Yosef Shlita [acronym for “may he live a long, good life”] in his motzei shabbos [Saturday night] drasha [lecture] came out against U.S. President Barak [sic] Hussein Obama and other world leaders who feel they can dictate policy in Eretz Yisrael [Israel].
The Rav [rabbi] stated “they tell us not to build here and not to build there….as if we are their slaves”. The Rav concluded that Moshiach [Messiah] will come and they will all be gone.
Rav Ovadia added that in the place of the Beis HaMikdosh [Temple] today there are Arabs and all these wicked people will be ousted when Moshiach arrives. He is waiting for us more than we await his arrival explained the Gadol HaDor [term for the greatest sage of the generation]. “Only learning Torah will expedite his arrival. Nothing else will help, not bagrut (matriculation) or safrut (literature)”.
Invoking Pres. Obama’s middle name was an intentional move, I’m sure, and the rest of the story doesn’t require much comment, though it’s probably worth noting that the title on YWN is “Rav Ovadia Shlita Slams President Obama & Other World Leaders.”