Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky, a figure in Israel's ultra-Orthodox community, died on Friday at the age of 94, according to concordant sources.
Leader of the Lithuanian Jews, Rabbi Kanievsky was considered a “teacher” and sometimes nicknamed the “Prince of Torah” by his followers, who respected his slogans to the letter.
His family announced his death in a short statement.
Their funerals will be on Sunday, according to the Israeli charitable organization Zaka, whose members are Orthodox Jews.
“The rabbi always made sure to welcome every person with an open heart,” Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said in a statement.
“He was a true public leader, who from his modest home in Bnei Brak (near Tel Aviv) led tens of thousands of people in Israel, with wisdom, common sense and rare skill,” he added.
Rabbi Kanievsky had attracted the anger of many Israelis by minimizing the severity of the coronavirus, stating that the pandemic should not justify closing religious schools when authorities decreed strict confinement.
His grandson, Yakov Kanievsky, told AFP in 2020 that the rabbi considered the Torah study “the most important thing in the world.”
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