Sephardic Haredim the Sephardic Halacha from Ashkenazi influence, and to restore it to what he considers its purest and most correct form. The most important and influential leader of present-day Sephardic Haredi community in Israel was Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, former Chief Rabbi of Israel and the spiritual leader of the Shas political party. He was considered the foremost religious authority by most Sephardic Yeshivas, especially large and influential ones such as Porat Yosef. In earlier periods, the key figures of the Sephardic Haredim included: Sephardic Haredim Sephardic Haredim are Jews of Sephardic and Mizrahi descent who are adherents of Haredi Judaism. Sephardic
Sephardic Bnei Anusim Jews during the 15th century. Surnames known to have been carried by Jews included Pérez, López, Salazar, Córdova, Torres, Castro, Álvarez, González, Gómez, Fernández. It is extremely important to note, however, that all of these mentioned surnames, and almost all other surnames which were carried by 15th century Sephardim, were never specifically Jewish in origin, that is, they were never exclusively "Sephardic surnames", if such a thing exists other than in the most rarest and limited of cases. Almost all these surnames are in fact surnames of gentile Spanish origin (or gentile Portuguese origin) which only became common among Sephardic