Rishon L�Tzion HaGaon HaRav Yitzchak Yosef has spoken out about secular justices during a shiur. The rav stated that they are �pasul for Eidus and without a doubt, to hand down verdicts in cases�.

During the Wednesday night the eve of 6 Nissan shiur the rav addressed those who take matters to the secular courts to be adjudicated, which he refers to as �The courts of the chilonim, the secular justices who are mechalel Shabbos, who are invalid as witnesses and to render judgement�.

Additionally, portions of a shiur given by the rav in the Yazdim Shul have stirred some recent controversy. He was learning the sugya of �mishane briyos� (???? ?????) and the brachos we make on Birchal Ilanos

Rabbi Yosef explained that when one sees a �strange creation� one makes a bracha, as one does when one sees a �kushi� (????) but explained regarding the latter, as his later father taught him, only when the parents are both white and the child comes out black. �One does not make a bracha for every kushi� explained the rav, adding, �one walks in the United Sates, one sees a kushi every five minutes�.

The Anti-Defamation League slammed Rav Yosef on Tuesday, claiming he likened black people born from white parents to �monkeys� during his Drasha.

�Racially charged comment made by Israeli Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef, comparing people of color to �monkeys�, is utterly unacceptable,� the Jewish civil rights organization posted in a tweet.

In response, the rabbi�s office said that he was merely citing the Gemara, which states that the same Bracha is recited upon seeing an elephant, a monkey or an ape.

(YWN Israel Desk � Jerusalem)