ברוך דיין האמת ראש הישיבה רבי חכם שלום כהן נשיא מועצת חכמי התורה זצוקללה״ה

Petirah of Rosh Yeshivas Porat Yosef and Spiritual leader of the Shas party Rav Shalom Cohen Zatzal. The Levaya will take place tomorrow in Yerushayim from the Yeshiva in Geula to the Bais olam in Sanhedria off Bar Ilan.

Matzav reports Rav Cohen was on October 27,

1931, one of eight children of Rav Efraim Hakohen, a noted Sephardi mekubal, in Yerushalayim. His father had been a disciple of the Ben Ish Chai in Baghdad before immigrating to Eretz Yisroel in 1924. In 1931, the year Rav Shalom was born, his father was appointed rosh yeshiva of Yeshivat Porat Yosef in the Old City of Yerushalayim. Rav Shalom began studying at Yeshivat Porat Yosef at the age of 13 and developed a reputation as a masmid and a brilliant ben Torah. He married his wife, Rabbanit Yael, daughter of Rav Mansour Ben Shimon, a mekubal from Tzefas who also taught at Porat Yosef. Chacham Shalom and Rabbanit Yair had eight children. Rav Cohen began delivering shiurim at Porat Yosef after his wedding, and taught thousands of talmidim over many decades. He was named rosh yeshiva of the Old City branch of Porat Yosef in 1966. In 1984, he agreed to Rav Ovadia Yosef’s request to serve on the then new Moetzet Chachmei HaTorah of Shas. In April 2014, six months after Chacham Ovadiah’s petirah, Rav Shalom succeeded him as nosi of the Moetzet.

Rav Shalom was a brilliant talmid chochom who had a grasp of kol haTorah with unique recall. He was highly respected across all circles. His petirah leaves a gaping void in the Sephardic Torah world and the general Olam HaTorah.

Levayah details will be posted once they are finalized