JERUSALEM (JTA) — Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, spiritual leader of the haredi Orthodox Shas party, 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 greeting followers waiting outside his hospital room.
The rabbi was ordered to rest for several days. It had been reported earlier that Yosef would remain in the hospital for a few days to undergo observation.
Yosef, a former chief Sephardic rabbi of Israel, 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 and was ordered to the hospital by a worshiper who is a doctor.
He has a heart condition and had his third angioplasty in 2006.
The episode came 10 days before Israelis vote for a new Knesset. Whether or not Shas has chosen to join previous government coalitions was due in large part to Yosef.
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