Rabbi Shlomo Yosef Zewin, doyen of Israel’s rabbis, was buried today in Jerusalem. He died last night at the age of 93. Rabbi Zewin, one of the most prominent Jewish scholars and halachic writers of our time, was the editor-in-chief of the Talmudic Encyclopedia and the president of Yad Herzog Academy in Jerusalem.
Born in Kazimorov, Russia, he was a rabbi in several Russian cities and was a member of the Ukrainian Parliament in Kiev in 1918. He came to Palestine in 1938. Rabbi Zewin was regarded as the creator of a new halachic Hebrew style. He won the Israel Prize for religious literature in 1959, and the Jerusalem municipality’s Rabbi Kook Prize for religious literature, for the 10th volume of the Talmudic Encyclopedia.
Until he was hospitalized three weeks ago, he used to work until 2 a.m. on his halachic studies, only to get up early in the morning for prayer. He was the most respected among the Habad rabbis, and kept close contact with the Lubavitcher Rebbe. He spent considerable time writing on halachic issues in popular language. In his works he tried to synthesize halacha and hasidot.
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