"Minister of Torah": The story of Rabbi Kanievsky, one of the ultra-Orthodox leaders
Rabbi Kanievsky was identified as a great man in the Torah in his youth in Pinsk.
He refrained from engaging in public life for years and devoted himself to Torah study, is considered proficient in Torah literature and has extensive and in-depth knowledge.
After his father died, many began to seek his blessing and advice.
At age 94, after collapsing in his home, he passed away
Eli Ashkenazi Vicky Adamkar
18/03/2022
Friday, 18 March 2022, 17:13 Updated: 17:34
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In the video: One of the members of the household and his associates signal to those present outside that Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky has died, and a "tearing" must be done on the garment (Eitan Elhadz TPS, documentation on social networks according to section 27A of the Copyright Law)
Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky, one of the leaders of the ultra-Orthodox community, passed away today (Friday) at the age of 94, after falling ill in recent days, collapsing in his home, and the resuscitation efforts made there for a long time failed.
In the political system, he was mourned, dozens gathered outside his home and the police are preparing for one of the largest funerals known to the state, on Sunday in Bnei Brak, near the rabbi's home.
Rabbi Kanievsky, who in recent years has been the most prominent leader in the Lithuanian-Haredi stream, has in recent years been called "Minister of the Torah" and thousands in Israel and around the world would come to him for advice and blessing.
In the last decade many of the Hasidic and Sephardic currents have been secretive in spite of him.
He was the leader and supreme spiritual figure of Degel HaTorah, one of the factions that make up Torah Judaism, but his political influence was significantly broad.
Rabbi Kanievsky was born in 1928 in Pinsk (then in Poland, today in Belarus), and was the eldest son of Rabbi Yaakov Israel Kanievsky and Miriam nee Karlitz.
His father, nicknamed the "Stapler" after his hometown of Hornstopel, is considered to have supreme halakhic authority in his generation, many of whom follow his teachings to this day.
Already in his youth he was identified as a great man in the Torah and Rabbi Avraham Yeshayahu Carlitz was nicknamed the "Vision Man", who married his sister, Miriam, to the rabbi.
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One of the leaders of the ultra-Orthodox community: Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky passed away at the age of 94
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Death of Rabbi Kanievsky
In the political system, Rabbi Kanievsky was praised: "Every person received with an open heart"
Rabbi Kanievsky (Photo: Reuven Castro)
For years it has been said that Miriam raised doubts about the quality of the matchmaking, and her brother asked her if she doubted him if they told her that her husband would be as great in the Torah as the great men of the generation - the undersigned Sofer or Rabbi Akiva Eiger. In
1934
, about a year after Hazon Ish immigrated to Eretz Israel and settled in Bnei Brak, he was followed by the Kanievsky family and the two brothers-in-law, who were considered the greatest of the generation, became neighbors. The eldest son, Chaim, was sent to study at the
Lomza
Yeshiva in Petah Tikva. , The yeshiva rabbi told him to go up the hill and study. "I took the gemara, and went up to the top of the hill,And there I studied until the end of the fighting, "he said.
Studying Torah.
The last public event in which Rabbi Kanievsky participated (Photo: Official website, Marvin Schischport)
In 1951 he married Batsheva Esther, the daughter of the late Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv, an important halakhic judge who over the years became one of the leaders of the Lithuanian public in Israel
. Rabbi Chaim), for years refrained from engaging in public life and devoted himself to Torah study.
He is considered well versed in Torah literature and has extensive and in-depth knowledge and is considered one of the great experts in Jerusalem Talmud.
After his father's death in 1985 he slowly began to become more involved in public life.
Like his father, many began to seek his blessing and advice and began to come to his home.
Over the years, a large crowd began to gather on the simple-looking apartment building on Rashbam Street, in one of whose apartments the rabbi lived with extreme modesty.
From that moment on, Rabbi Kanievsky became the main figure in the Lithuanian current and it was he who decided on the burning questions.
These are issues essential to the daily lives of his people, such as the recruitment law, to expressing support for Moshe Leon's candidacy for mayor of Jerusalem, despite facing an ultra-Orthodox candidate, or his support for Einat Klish-Rotem for mayor of Haifa, despite being a woman and secular.
The rabbi provoked much criticism after ordering during the Corona period to keep the ultra-Orthodox educational institutions open despite the high morbidity in the ultra-Orthodox concentrations.
The latest photo of Rabbi Kanievsky (Photo: screenshot, documentation on social networks according to section 27A of the Copyright Law)
The rabbi has been surrounded by a group of associates for years, with the most recognizable figure in this group being his grandson, Yaakov (Yankee) Kanievsky.
The grandson is considered the giver and the bringer and the one who whispers in the ear of the rabbi and is considered to have a great influence on him.
The 30-year-old grandson made headlines in March, with the outbreak of the corona plague in Israel, when he was seen in the video telling his grandfather: Do you think that the Hyderabad should be abolished because of this? "
"God forbid," the rabbi replied to his grandson.
"So can I tell them on behalf of my grandfather that the hyders must be allowed to be taught to the children?"
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