Shimon Baadani

Shimon Baadani (; 1928 – 11 January 2023), also spelled Shimon Ba'adani, was a leading Sephardi rabbi and rosh kollel in Israel. He was the co-founder and dean of Kollel Torah V'Chaim in Bnei Brak, and served as president of dozens of Torah institutions. He was also a senior leader of the Shas political party and a member of that party's Moetzet Chachmei HaTorah rabbinical leadership council.

Early life and education Shimon Baadani was born in 1928 in Hadera, Mandatory Palestine. His parents, Dawid and Haviva Baadani, were both Jews from Yemen who had had ten children in their homeland, of whom only two sons and one daughter survived. Shimon was their eleventh and last child.

Baadani's parents initially sent him to a Mafdal (Religious Zionist) school that provided religious education.

Political views

Baadani was involved in the formation of the Shas party in 1984. He was a member of the party's Moetzet Chachmei HaTorah rabbinical leadership council. After sitting in the government of Ehud Barak from 1999 to 2001, Baadani said it was like "living in Sodom". He attacked Shas' coalition partners in the Netanyahu government of 2013–2015, calling Yair Lapid "Amalek" and the Religious Zionist rabbis and leaders of The Jewish Home "animals, idiots". In 2006 he suggested that the reason for Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's stroke was because Sharon had aligned himself with the secular Shinui party. He added that those who did not vote for Shas in the elections would go to hell. In June 2008 Baadani was openly critical of the Tel Aviv Pride Parade, stating: "So much dirt on the street and making it proud? There was no such thing in the Jewish people. It's disgusting".

Personal life Baadani was known for his simple lifestyle and demeanor.

Baadani died after a long illness on 11 January 2023, at the age of 94.