JERUSALEM (JTA) — Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, the spiritual leader of the Shas party, was placed on a respirator and his son said “we are all praying for God to do miracles.”
Doctors at the Hadassah Ein Kerem Medical Center in Jerusalem said Tuesday that the 93-year-old Yosef was in stable condition, but that it was unlikely that he would be removed from the respirator.
He was rushed to the hospital on Saturday night, when a pacemaker was inserted to stabilize his heart and he underwent kidney dialysis.
Prayers for the spiritual leader and scholar reportedly are being held around the world. Shas head Aryeh Deri called for all Jews to pray for the rabbi’s recovery.
Yosef’s children have been at their father’s bedside, including his son, Sephardic Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef.
Yitzhak Yosef told Ynet that his father was “in need of God’s mercy” and that “we are all praying for God to do miracles and wonders for our father.”
It is the fourth time in recent weeks that Yosef has been hospitalized. He had a stroke in January.
