Rabbi Chaim Stein, Rosh Yeshiva of the famed Telshe Yeshiva of Cleveland and the oldest director of a rabbinical institution in America, has died after one year of illness.

One of the yeshiva world's strongest remaining links to pre-war Europe, Rabbi Stein was 98 years old. He has been unwell for some time.

In October 1940, Rabbi Stein led a group of students who escaped from war-torn Lithuania just as it was overrun by the Nazis, fleeing the country on the Sabbath. Although travel on the Sabbath is prohibited on Jewish law, it is permitted in times of great peril in order to save one's life.

Rabbi Stein and the students he accompanied headed via the Trans-Siberian Railroad to the Far East, having aquired visas from the famous Chiune Sugihara, who risked his life to save Jews fleeing the Nazis.

Eventually the little group landed in Brisbane, Australia, where the local Jewish community welcomed them warmly.

A few months later, in 1941, Rabbi Stein and most of the other students made their way to the United States and were reunited with their rabbinic mentors. They settled in Cleveland, Ohio.

Telshe Yeshiva, which had been a famous Eastern European institute of rabbinical learning, was founded in Lithuania. After World War II, the school relocated to Ohio and officially became the Rabbinical College of Telshe – Telshe Yeshiva. Today it is one of the most prominent rabbinical institutions in the United States.

Two funerals are to be held for the venerated rabbi in the United States. The first was set to begin today (Thursday June 30) at 9:00 a.m. local time at the Telshe Yeshiva in Cleveland.

A few hours later, at 2:00 p.m. EDT, the second funeral is scheduled in Lakewood, another major American geographic center of Torah learning, at BMG.

Rabbi Stein's body will then be flown in the evening to Israel, where burial will take place at Har HaMenuchot.