Chaim Kanievsky
Shemaryahu Yosef Chaim Kanievsky (Hebrew: שמריהו יוסף חיים קַניֶבסקִי; January 8, 1928 – March 18, 2022) was an Israeli Haredi rabbi and posek.[8][9] Though Kanievsky held no formal community-wide post,[10] he was the de facto head of the Litvak community of Haredi Judaism, revered as a consummate scholar of Jewish law and tradition, with unimpeachable rulings.The matchmakers were Rabbi Ben Zion Brook, head of Novardok Yeshiva in Jerusalem, and the Chazon Ish, who praised the groom in a letter and titled him "Master of All the Talmud."[23] The funeral received extensive advance coverage due to concerns about the large turnout and its potential impact on infrastructure and services in the Gush Dan area.[27] On Fridays, he added the study of twice reading the Torah portion with translation and included related Halakhic Midrashim alongside Biblical commentators from the Rishonim.During an election rally held afterward, Shach requested that Kanievsky be brought from his home before he spoke, and he dedicated part of his speech to praising him and emphasizing the obligation to obey his directives.After he refused, Shach instructed that he be added alongside his father-in-law, Rabbi Elyashiv, as a "non-member with an opinion," whose views should be considered even if he did not participate in the Council's meetings.[35] During the Gulf War, it was stated in his name that no missiles would fall on Bnei Brak, based on a similar statement by his uncle, the Chazon Ish.During Elyashiv's last illness, a handwritten letter by Kanievsky was published in Yated Ne'eman, stating: "The leadership of the generation is now entrusted to the great Gaon, Rabbi Aharon Yehuda Leib Shteinman, may he live many good days, whose actions are all for the sake of Heaven.Alongside him in leadership stood Rabbi Gershon Edelstein, head of Ponevezh Yeshiva, who led the party's Council of Torah Sages.[40] Kanievsky presided over numerous educational institutions and charitable organizations, including Ateret Shlomo, Yissachar B’Ohalecha, Kupat Ha'ir, Vaad Harabanim, Lev L’Achim, and the She'erit Yisrael Badatz.Kanievsky took great effort to uphold the rulings and positions of the Chazon Ish, including: not relying on the Heter mechirav during the sabbatical year (Shmita), prohibiting the use of electricity and water supplied through Shabbat desecration, not relying on city Eruvs due to the difficulty of monitoring them from week to week, reading the Book of Esther in Bnei Brak also on Shushan Purim out of doubt, and more.[47] In 2012, Kanievsky ruled that it is forbidden to possess or use a smartphone without individual permission from a halakhic authority, and that owners are not allowed to sell their phones, but should instead burn them.[60][61] Kanievsky told his followers that the best ways to defeat the virus were to avoid lashon hara (gossiping about one's peers), to strengthen humility, and to place the needs of others before their own.[62] As a result of the discussion, he was visited, on March 15, by senior police officials who, with great respect, wanted to ask him of the importance of following the orders of medical professionals with regard to the outbreak.[62] On March 29, after the ultra-Orthodox community was hit hard by the virus,[63] with Bnei Brak having a high percentage of coronavirus cases in Israel, relative to its population,[64] Kanievsky ruled that one who does not follow the Israeli Health Ministry's guidelines on COVID-19 is in the position of a rodef, i.e., one who pursues another with intent to kill, a murderer.[76] Kanievsky customarily signed his books with the initials "ShICh BaHaGRYY" (Shmaryahu Yosef Chaim Ben HaGaon Rabbi Yaakov Yisrael).
Next to him are seen: Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv , Rabbi Elazar Menachem Man Shach , and Rabbi Shlomo Shimshon Karlitz.
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