Rabbi Gershon Edelstein passed away Tuesday morning, and it is not clear who will lead the Lithuanian-haredi community in his place.
Potential successors include Rabbi Moshe Hillel Hirsch (87), and Rabbi Dov Landa (93) of the Slobodka Yeshiva, as well as Rabbi Baruch Mordechai Ezrachi (94) of the Ateret Yisrael Yeshiva.
It is not yet clear if age will determine Rabbi Edelstein's successor to be Rabbi Ezrachi, or if there will be multiple successors.
Though the Lithuanian-haredi community tends to prefer a single leader, there have been cases when succession was not clear and there two leaders.
Such was the case after Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv's passing, when Rabbi Aryeh Leib Shteinman took on the mantle of leadership. Though the majority of the community accepted him, some did not, splitting off to become the "Jerusalem Faction" (Hapeleg Hayerushalmi), lead by Rabbi Shmuel Auerbach.
After Rabbi Shteinman passed away, Rabbi Edelstein and Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky led the community together until Rabbi Kanievsky's death in March 2022.