Renowned Torah educator Rabbi Gedalya Eisman passed away on Saturday night. He was 101 years old.
Many thousands attended his funeral, which began at the Kol Torah yeshiva in Jerusalem. He had served as a director and spiritual guide at the institute for many years.
Among his students were the Chief Rabbi of Tel Aviv and former Chief Rabbi of Israel, Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau, renowned talmudist Rabbi Yehuda Adas, leading kashrut and shechita expert,Rabbi Shlomo Mahpoud, and rabbi of the Old City of Jerusalem, Rabbi Avigdor Neventzal.
Rabbi Eisman was born in Poland. As a young man he learned with some of Europe’s most renowned rabbis, among them Rabbi Aharon Kotler of Lakewood yeshiva and Rabbi Yechezkel Levinstein.
When Polish authorities planned to forcibly enlist him in the army he fled to Israel, with help from Rabbi Tzvi Yehuda Kook, Merkaz Harav yeshiva head and leader of religious Zionism and son of Israel's first chief rabbi, Rav Avraham Yitschak HaCohen Kook, with whom he had been in touch to discuss Torah issues. He learned in the Merkaz Harav yeshiva for many years before taking a position in Kol Torah.
Rabbi Binyamin Fischer, head of the Magen Lacholeh organization that advises and aids the ill, paid tribute to Rabbi Eisman in an interview Sunday with Arutz Sheva. Rabbi Eisman never demanded something of another person without first demanding it of himself, Rabbi Fischer said.
“His legacy is that each person is a human being, and for that reason we must love and listen to every person, and be available to him at all times” Rabbi Fischer continued.
“The rabbi was a guide to good behavior and to leadership for me and others. He was among the founders of Magen Lacholeh and without him I don’t think I would be here today,” he concluded.