Rabbi Abraham Karelitz, known throughout the Jewish world as Hazon Ish, the great Talmudic authority, died yesterday at his home at Bnei Brak. He was 73. Twenty thousand persons attended his funeral today.
Hazon Ish, who never accepted a rabbinical post, was consulted on Talmudic and religious questions by Jews from all parts of the world and was considered the highest scholarly authority in Israel. During the great controversy in Israel over the proposal to draft Orthodox women exempted from military service for national non-military duty, Premier Ben Gurion consulted Hazon Ish on the religious aspects of the problem. Rabbi Karelitz was born in Kosovo, Poland, later went to Vilna and came to Palestine 18 years ago.
At a meeting of the Cabinet today, Premier David Ben Gurion eulogized Hazon Ish as one of the greatest religious scholars in the World.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
