Today marks the 50th anniversary of the death of the famed Chazon Ish, Rabbi Avraham Yeshayahu Karelitz, considered one of the founding fathers of the hareidi community in Israel today and who became a worldwide authority on all matters relating to Jewish law and life. Arutz-7's Haggai Segal spoke with Dr. Benny Braun of Bar Ilan and Hebrew Universities, who wrote his doctorate on the Chazon Ish.
Dr. Braun said that Rabbi Karelitz arrived in Israel in 1933 from Vilna in Lithuania as a "virtual unknown. He had no money, no reputation, and not even any relatives - he came only with four books that he wrote, but no one had heard of them. After a few years, the hareidi farmers discovered him, with the help of Rabbi Chaim Ozer Grodzensky - who referred them to him on the crucial matters of Jewish law and agriculture." These were Land of Israel issues that had not been dealt with on a practical level in hundreds of years, and the Chazon Ish was one of the first to deal with them frontally.
"He also became famous for his novel ruling regarding the International Date Line," Braun said, "ruling that Sabbath in Japan must be kept later than in Israel, and not earlier... The Chazon Ish did not see issues of 'Torah and State' as something important per se, but rather turned his attention to the survival of religious life and the yeshivot in Israel. He fought about the topics of the new-immigrant camps [to ensure that religious education was provided for the religious immigrants] and against enlisting women into the army... Ben-Gurion visited him in his home once, for only 40 minutes, but it became a famous meeting."
It is related that at that meeting, the Prime Minister wished to learn the Chazon Ish's views on how a modern secular state can coexist with a traditional religious community. The Chazon Ish responded by quoting the Talmud regarding two camels approaching each other on a narrow road with room for only one to pass. Which one should pass first?, the Talmud asks, and answers that the one with a load passes before the one that has none. The Chazon Ish explained that the religious community is bearing the "load" of thousands of years of Jewish tradition and teachings, thus that the secular community should "step aside" and respect the values that the religious community has been carrying for so long.
Dr. Braun added that the Chazon Ish did not like Zionism, but was among the more moderate anti-Zionists: "He did not expend his energies in fighting Zionism and its symbols, but rather in strengthening the hareidi community and its institutions."
Dr. Braun said that Rabbi Karelitz arrived in Israel in 1933 from Vilna in Lithuania as a "virtual unknown. He had no money, no reputation, and not even any relatives - he came only with four books that he wrote, but no one had heard of them. After a few years, the hareidi farmers discovered him, with the help of Rabbi Chaim Ozer Grodzensky - who referred them to him on the crucial matters of Jewish law and agriculture." These were Land of Israel issues that had not been dealt with on a practical level in hundreds of years, and the Chazon Ish was one of the first to deal with them frontally.
"He also became famous for his novel ruling regarding the International Date Line," Braun said, "ruling that Sabbath in Japan must be kept later than in Israel, and not earlier... The Chazon Ish did not see issues of 'Torah and State' as something important per se, but rather turned his attention to the survival of religious life and the yeshivot in Israel. He fought about the topics of the new-immigrant camps [to ensure that religious education was provided for the religious immigrants] and against enlisting women into the army... Ben-Gurion visited him in his home once, for only 40 minutes, but it became a famous meeting."
It is related that at that meeting, the Prime Minister wished to learn the Chazon Ish's views on how a modern secular state can coexist with a traditional religious community. The Chazon Ish responded by quoting the Talmud regarding two camels approaching each other on a narrow road with room for only one to pass. Which one should pass first?, the Talmud asks, and answers that the one with a load passes before the one that has none. The Chazon Ish explained that the religious community is bearing the "load" of thousands of years of Jewish tradition and teachings, thus that the secular community should "step aside" and respect the values that the religious community has been carrying for so long.
Dr. Braun added that the Chazon Ish did not like Zionism, but was among the more moderate anti-Zionists: "He did not expend his energies in fighting Zionism and its symbols, but rather in strengthening the hareidi community and its institutions."
