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 purpose of marriage is solely to remove any doubt relating to any possibility of a broken maternal lineage (which religiously might affect the status of offspring borne to that marriage), and it in no way infers that the Sephardic Bnei Anusim are otherwise of Jewish ancestry. Although not halakhically Jewish as a collective group, Sephardic Bnei Anusim are broadly categorized as Zera Yisrael (זרע ישראל, literally "Seed of Israel"). Zera Yisrael are the Halakhically non-Jewish descendants of Jews who, for practical purposes, are neither Jews nor completely gentile. According to some of the most prominent medieval Jewish sages, the designation