Yaakov Yisrael Kanievsky

Rabbi
Yaakov Yisrael Kanievsky
Personal life
BornYaakov Yisrael Kanievsky
יעקב ישראל קַנִיֶּבְסְקִי
1899
Hornostaypil, Ukraine
Died10 August 1985(1985-08-10) (aged 85–86)[1]
Bnei Brak, Israel
BuriedShomrei Shabbos cemetery, Bnei Brak
Spouse(Pesaha) Miriam Karelitz
ChildrenChaim Kanievsky
Parent(s)Chaim Peretz and Bracha Kanievsky
Religious life
ReligionJudaism

Yaakov Yisrael Kanievsky (Hebrew: יעקב ישראל קַנִיֶּבְסְקִי), known as The Steipler or The Steipler Gaon (1899 – 10 August 1985), was a Haredi (ultra-Orthodox Jewish) rabbi, Talmudic scholar, and posek[2] (decider of Jewish law in new situations), and the author of Kehilos Yaakov, a 19-volume commentary on the Talmud.[3]

Biography

Early years

Kanievsky was born in Hornostaypil, Ukraine to Chaim Peretz Kanievsky, a rabbi, and his wife Bracha.

Kanievsky studied in the Novardok Yeshiva.

Later years

After serving in the Red Army for some time, during which he was bullied for his strict adherence to mitzvot,[4] Kanievsky managed to get discharged. He decided to move to Białystok in Poland, in order to continue learning Torah unhindered from Communist interference. There, he studied under Avraham Yoffen and published Sha'arei Tevunah (Gates of Understanding), his first major work.[4]

Kanievsky married Pesha Miriam Karelitz, the sister of Avrohom Yeshaya Karelitz (known as the Chazon Ish).[5] Kanievsky was then appointed Rosh Yeshiva (dean) of the Novarodok yeshiva in Pinsk.[6]

The Land of Israel

In 1934, at the urging of his brother-in-law, the Chazon Ish,[7] he left Poland and moved to Israel, settling in Bnei Brak,[8] and was appointed Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivas Beis Yosef - Novardok in Bnei Brak.[4]

He died on Friday night, 23 Av, 5745 (1985), and over 150,000 mourners attended his funeral.[9] His son Chaim Kanievsky was also a rabbi.

He was considered to be gadol ha-dor, "the greatest authority of the generation", by many followers of Haredi Judaism.[4]

A memorial plaque for Kanievski on Rashbam Street in Bnei Brak

Political involvement

Kanievsky believed the Yom Kippur War was intentionally started as a means of Herut gaining political popularity.[10]

Kanievsky strongly criticized the Poalei Agudat Yisrael party, calling it "of the parties who damage in the vineyard of the House of the Lord", and added: "When we be granted the salvation, this party will be on the side of those who ruin and destroy religion."[11] On the leaders of the party, he wrote that they "corrupted and turned it into a distinct-materialistic party ... and they put venom of "אשר קרך" into their ranks"; and on its voters, he wrote that they "violate the name of God in secret and in multitude".[12]

In the 1984 elections, he supported Shas.

Works

He also authored Birkas Peretz (on the Torah) and Chayei Olam.[13]

Notes

References

  1. ↑ "The Steipler Gaon zt"l, On His 28th Yahrtzeit, Today, 23 Av". Matzav.com. 30 July 2013. Retrieved 8 December 2024.
  2. ↑ Marek Cejka; Roman Koran (2015). Rabbis of our Time: Authorities of Judaism. Routledge. ISBN 978-1317605447. Rabbi Kanievsky was an important figure and halachic authority (posek)
  3. ↑ "Jewish History: Av 23". Aishcom. 21 May 2009.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Ambrožová, Romana; Čejka, Marek; Kořan, Roman; Hrubín, Jan (2016). Rabbis of Our Time: Authorities of Judaism in the Religious and Political Ferment of Modern Times. Milton Park, UK: Routledge. p. 192.
  5. ↑ "Remembering the Steipler | Ami Magazine". August 13, 2025.
  6. ↑ https://amimagazine.org/2025/08/13/remembering-the-steipler/#:~:text=He%20acquired%20the%20name%20%E2%80%9CSteipler,the%20Novardok%20branch%20in%20Pinsk.
  7. ↑ "RABBI YAAKOV YISRAEL KANIEVSKY (1899-1985)". In 1934, his brother in law, the Chazon Ish, who had already been living in Palestine for a while, urged Rabbi Yaakov Yisrael to join him.
  8. ↑ Rabbi Zacharia Fishman, "צום אפפאר קיין ארץ־ישראל פון דעם ר"מ בּישיבת פינסק" (news of his immigration to Bnei Brak, Israel in a local Jewish newspaper in Pinsk), Pinsker Vort, February 23, 1934.
  9. ↑ "The Steipler Gaon zt"l, On His 28th Yahrtzeit, Today, 23 Av | Matzav.com". July 30, 2013.
  10. ↑ Horowitz, Avraham. The Life of the Kehillos Yaakov (in Hebrew). p. 163.
  11. ↑ "השקפתנו" (Our Perspective) Part C: Chapter 6: Letter of Nisan 5732-1972.
  12. ↑ "Our Perspective" Part I, Chapter: The PAI Movement: A Letter from Av 5721-1961
  13. ↑ "The Steipler Gaon: The Extraordinary Life and Spiritual Courage of Rabbi Yaakov Yisrael Kanievsky". ennewsite.hidabroot.org (in Hebrew). 2024-08-14. Retrieved 2025-12-03.
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