Now we mourn, tearfully awaiting that time when Mashiach will arrive, and bring our beloved tzaddikim back

Photo: AE GEDOLIM PHOTOS

A Tzaddik Is Born

On 15 Teves in 5688, in Pinsk, Poland, a baby boy was born. He was named Shmaryahu Yosef Chaim, after both his grandfathers. The baby’s father was the Steipler Gaon, and his child was going to illuminate the world.

Young Chaim’l was an only child. When he was six years old, he and his parents left Poland to move to Eretz Yisrael. The family moved in with Rav Chaim’s uncle, the Chazon Ish, before eventually moving into their own home.

As a child, Rav Chaim attended Cheder Rebbe Akiva in Bnei Brak. He also learned with his father, the Steipler, and his uncle, the Chazon Ish.

When Rav Chaim was ten years old, he started learning in Yeshivas Tifferes Tzion, also in Bnei Brak. When he was 16, he finished Shas for the first time (that’s 36 separate masechtos, totaling over 2,700 dapim of Gemara). Eventually, he moved on to Yeshivas Lomza in Petach Tikvah, where he learned until after his marriage to Batsheva Esther Elyashiv. Rebbetzin Batsheva was the daughter of the gadol hador, Rav Yosef Shalom Elyashiv.

After a short stint in Petach Tikvah, the young Kanievskys relocated to Bnei Brak, where they first shared an apartment with three other young families (including Rav Nissim Karelitz, Rav Chaim’s first cousin). Eventually they moved into their own small, simple apartment, where they raised their eight children — five girls and three boys.

Only Torah

From a very young age, Rav Chaim was astoundingly devoted to his learning. He learned diligently and constantly, covering massive swaths of Torah. By the time he was a young avreich, he had a daunting learning schedule. Every single year, Rav Chaim completed Shas (Talmud Bavli and Yerushalmi, as well as the Tosefta), Shulchan Aruch (over 1,000 simanim), all 14 books of the Rambam, and Tanach (the 24 books of Chumash, Neviim, and Kesuvim).

His daily schedule started at midnight, with Tikkun Chatzos. He would then move on to the Zohar, Tehillim, Nach, Mishnah Berurah, Rambam, Shulchan Aruch, Talmud Bavli, Tosefta, and Talmud Yerushalmi. He would stop to daven Shacharis k’vasikin (which he missed only once in his lifetime). Every day, Rav Chaim went home for lunch, which he was makpid to eat only with the Rebbetzin; he would not start eating until she was ready to join him. On Fridays, he would learn shnayim mikra and the midrashim on the parshiyos. He regaled his children with stories from the Midrash, much to their enjoyment.

Rav Chaim authored tens of seforim, each of which was profoundly unique in its depth and breadth, with an astonishing grasp of every part of Torah and Chazal.