Religionרון יוסף

Ron Yosef

Ron Yosef is an Israeli Orthodox rabbi and gay rights activist who founded Hod, an organization of religious gay Jews, and came out publicly on television in 2009.

born 1974Founding the Hod organizationComing out as Orthodox rabbiAdvocacy for religious gay Jews

Occupation: rabbi, human rights defender

Ron Yosef was born in 1974 in Israel

Ron Yosef was born in 1974 into a traditional Yemenite family and lives in Netanya. He told his family about his sexual orientation at 21.

He served in the IDF in the Medical Corps and the Adjutant Corps, and during his service he began to become religious. After his release he studied in a yeshiva and later received rabbinic ordination. He is also certified as a rabbinic court advocate and a Torah scribe.

He worked in legal secretarial work and bookkeeping. From 2003 he served as rabbi of a Yemenite synagogue in Netanya, and in 2004 and 2005 he worked for an association preserving Yemenite Jewish heritage.

In 2008 he founded Hod and led it. In April 2009 he came out on the television program Uvda and later received threats. 163 rabbis from Israel and abroad endorsed Hod's document of principles. In 2012 the Military Rabbinate rejected his request to address religious soldiers.

In February 2016 he and his partner were arrested on suspicion of fraud. He was convicted and worked to return the money, and his prison sentence was issued on 23 May 2022.