Over 100,000 mourners attended the funeral in Bnai Brak today of Rabbi Yaacov Yisrael Kanievsky (the Steipeler Rav) who died at the age of 87 last night in his Bnai Brak home.
Regarded as one of the greatest rabbinical authorities in the world and venerated doyen of yeshivot throughout the globe, Kanievsky, brother-in-law of the famed Hazon Ish, had suffered from a kidney ailment for some months.
Kanievsky came to Palestine in 1934 from Vilna, following his brother-in-law who preceded him by 18 months. The two men, both regarded as outstanding sages, were close neighbors in Bnai Brak for many years.
Kanievsky, who wrote over 30 books during his life-time, did not occupy himself in political matters within the Hasidic and Orthodox communities but was accepted as an authority by all of them.
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.
