While we were yet celebrating the final leg of the Jewish high holidays in America, Rabbi Shmaryahu Yosef (Nissim) Karelitz was being laid to rest in Jerusalem. The nephew of the Chazon Ish, Rabbi Karelitz was chairman of the Beit Din Tzedek of Bnei Brak, and one of the leading rabbis of Lithuanian Jewry. Born in Vilna, Rabbi Karelitz lived to be 93.

Thousands thronged the streets to attend the funeral of Rabbi Karelitz, who was eulogized by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Netanyahu said he “grieves over the passing of renowned Torah scholar Rabbi Shmaryahu Yosef Nissim Karelitz, one of the giants of Jewish law in our generation.

“His unique personality and extraordinary expertise in Torah and Jewish law literature raised up tens of thousands of students who will continue his path out of an abiding commitment to the Jewish people and its heritage. May his soul be bound in the chain of life for all generations,” said the prime minister.