Great-great-great grandfather

Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv sees a sixth-generation descendant

By Mattis Goldberg

Issue of June 5, 2009 / 13 Sivan 5769

Immediately after Shabbos ended on May 23, Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv, the world’s leading halachic authority, was informed that he has become a great-great-great grandfather.

He is 99 years old and has lived to see a sixth-generation descendant. The birth has been widely discussed in Israel, including secular news outlets.

Rav Elyashiv’s great-great grandchildren Rabbi Yonoson and Mrs. Devora Honigsberg, announced the birth of their first son.

Rabbi Elyashiv’s great granddaughter, Mrs. Gedalya Honigsberg, became a grandmother for the first time.

Rabbi Elyashiv’s granddaughter Mrs. Shraga Steinman became a great-grandmother for the first time.

Rabbi Elyashiv’s daughter, Mrs. Chaim Kanievsky became a great-great-grandmother for the first time. Mrs. Kanievsky is married to Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky, another leading Torah authority.

Rabbi Aharon Leib Steinman, the father-in-law of Rabbi Elyashiv’s granddaughter, Mrs. Shraga Steinman, also became a great-great-grandfather for the first time. He, along with Rabbi

Elyashiv, is responsible for all of the major decisions that apply to the yeshiva world today.

Rabbi Elyashiv is the son-in-law of Rabbi Aryeh Levin, the late, legendary tzaddik of Jerusalem who passed away 40 years ago. He became the leading halachic authority of the generation after the passing of Rabbi Moshe Feinstein in 1986 and of Rabbi Shlomo Z. Auerbach in 1994.

Rabbi Mordechai Goldstein of Ramat Bet Shemesh in Israel is fond of repeating the following story: Rabbi Goldstein was a close student of the late Rabbi Feinstein. Shortly before the passing of Rabbi Feinstein, Rabbi Goldstein moved to Israel and began conferring with Rabbi Elyashiv on halachic rulings.

One time, shortly after the passing of Rabbi Feinstein, Rabbi Goldstein came

to discuss several halachic issues with Rabbi Elyashiv, only to be informed by his wife that Rabbi Elyashiv was not seeing anyone that day due to illness. Rabbi Goldstein, who wanted to show his sympathy, told Mrs. Elyashiv that he knew of the pressures of being the wife of the leading halachic authority of the generation. He explained that he had grown up on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in the same building as Rabbi Feinstein, and he was familiar with the responsibility.

Mrs. Elyashiv looked at Rabbi Goldstein and said, “You think I do not know who Rabbi Feinstein was? Ever since he passed away, we have started receiving phone calls from many countries throughout the world with complex life-and-death questions. These sorts of questions, which had been directed to Rabbi Feinstein before his death, are now being directed to my husband. My husband and I are truly humbled by the greatness of Rabbi Feinstein.”

Rabbi Elyashiv, who is 99 years old, still delivers a daily Talmud class, as he has for approximately 65 years. The class, for laymen, was founded by his father, Rabbi Avrohom Elyashiv, in the Tiferet Bachurim synagogue in the Meah Shearim section of Jerusalem. Shortly after the passing of Rabbi Avrohom Elyashiv in 1944, his son assumed the responsibility.

Copyright (c) 2009 by Intermountain Jewish News. Reprinted from the Intermountain Jewish News, May 29, 2009, by permission of the copyright holder. All photos (c) 2009 by Mattis Weinberg. Used with permission. Reproduction is prohibited without specific permission of the copyright holder.