Rav Ovaidia Yosef's Yahrtzeit 5786 All credit goest to Barbara Bensoussan and the Mishpacha
Skip to content | Magazine Feature | Next Door to Greatness By Barbara Bensoussan | October 28, 2025 Email Print While 12 years have passed since Chacham Ovadiah’s petirah , Rabbi David Shelby still feels as connected as ever Photos: Itzik Roytman, Mishpacha archives American-born David Shelby had been an admirer of Rav Ovadiah Yosef since he was a child. Then, when Rabbi Shelby became the Chacham’s neighbor and joined his exclusive kollel, he turned into family. And while 12 years have passed since Chacham Ovadiah’s petirah , Rabbi Shelby still feels as connected as ever R abbi David Shelby, the rabbi of Congregation Shaare Shalom in Brooklyn, was just about five years old when he first met Chacham Ovadiah Yosef, and the seeds of a relationship sprouted. Over the years, that connection intensified manifold. “He was my oxygen,” he says. “My family and I are still completely infused with him.” The screen on his cellphone is a photo of hi...