Religionשמעון בעדני

Shimon Baadani

Shimon Baadani was a Sephardi rabbi in Israel, co-founder and head of Kollel Torah V'Chaim in Bnei Brak and a leader of the Shas party's Council of Torah Sages.

1928 to 2023Founding Kollel Torah V'ChaimLeading the Shas Council of Torah SagesHeading Porat Yosef in Katamon

Born: 1 January 1928, Hadera
Died: 11 January 2023, Sheba Medical Center
Occupation: rabbi

Shimon Baadani was born in 1928 in Hadera

Shimon Baadani was born in 1928 in Hadera. His parents, Dawid and Haviva Baadani, came from Yemen, and he was their youngest child.

He studied at the Novardok yeshiva in Hadera and then at Beis Yosef-Novardok in Jerusalem under Rabbi Elazar Shach. He later moved to Porat Yosef Yeshiva, where he studied under Rabbi Ezra Attiya.

He was put in charge of a Porat Yosef dormitory in Katamon, which later became a separate yeshiva that he led. He then moved to Bnei Brak and founded Kollel Torah V'Chaim with Rabbi Moshe Pardo. From the 1970s he also worked with Jewish communities in Latin America and sent his student Rabbi Chaim Harari to set up a yeshiva in Mexico City.

In 1984 he joined the Council of Torah Sages of the new Shas party. His public remarks on political matters often drew controversy. After the death of Rabbi Shalom Cohen, he led Shas as president of the council.

He was married to Shulamit Abadai, and they had 7 children. A grandson was killed in a vehicular attack in Jerusalem in 2014. Baadani died on 11 January 2023 and was buried in Bnei Brak.