Community Magazine August 2012

A Kabbalist’s Blessing Rav Elyashiv was born on Rosh Hodesh Nisan 5670 (April 10, 1910) in the city of Shavel, Lithuania, to Rabbi Avraham and Haya Musha Orener. Haya Musha was the daughter of the great kabbalist Rabbi Shelomo Elyashiv z.s.l. , who was more famously known as the Baal Haleshem , or “the Leshem,” a reference to his monumental kabbalistic work, Leshem Shevo V’ahlama . When they moved from Lithuania to Jerusalem in 1922, the family assumed Rebbetzin Haya Musha’s maiden name – Elyashiv – in order to gain a certificate to enter the British Mandate with their relatives, and they were known by this family name ever since. The Leshem was regarded as a leading scholar of kabbalah . It is documented that when the Leshem Shevo V’ahlama was ready for publishing, Rabbi Shelomo Elyashiv sent the manuscript to Baghdad, to the great Hacham Yosef Haim z.s.l. (the Ben Ish Hai), one of the leading sages and scholars of kabbalah at that time, so he could review the work and give his approbation. When the Ben Ish Hai received the manuscript, he stood up and exuberantly recited the blessing of shehehiyanu over having received such a precious work. And students of the Hafess Haim z.s.l. related that their teacher held the Leshem in such high esteem that he even had a portrait of him on the wall – the only portrait in the Hafess Haim’s modest home. The esteemed contemporary mekubal Rabbi Yaakov Hillel shelita has said that the works of the Ba’al Haleshem might be the greatest contributions to the study of kabbalah in recent generations. The late Rebbitzen Batsheva Kanievsky, a daughter of Rav Elyashiv, would relate that it was the blessing of the Leshem that allowed her illustrious father to be born. Rabbi Avraham and Haya Musha were childless for 16 years after their marriage. Once, Rav Shelomo came to visit his daughter, and upon entering the home, he found her weeping over her Tehillim and beseeching Hashem to grant her a child. Upon hearing his daughter’s cries, he began weeping and praying with her, and when he finished he said, “I promise you that you will merit a son who will illuminate the world with his Torah and sidkut (righteousness).” Shortly thereafter, she bore her only son whom she named Yosef Shalom, and in whom her father’s blessing was fulfilled in the greatest way imaginable. Already at a very young age, Rav Yosef Shalom was very attached to his illustrious grandfather, and grew immensely from this close relationship. When his grandfather’s eyesight began to fail, Rav Yosef Shalom became his scribe, and in fact, much of the Leshem’s writings were actually written by Rav Elyashiv after hearing them orally from his grandfather. In one place in his sefer , the Ba’al Haleshem makes mention of the help he received from his young grandson, Rav Yosef Shalom, and he concludes by enthusing, “ Ashre yoladito – fortunate is she who bore him.” The Leshem passed away in March, 1925, leaving behind numerous unpublished manuscripts. It was Rav Elyashiv and his father, Rav Avraham, who laboriously compiled and published all the remaining manuscripts of the Leshem, preserving these precious works for future generations. Young Rabbi Shalom Elyashiv with his parents, Rabbi Avraham Orener and Haya Musha (Elyashiv) Orener, circa 1922. Rabbi Shelomo Elyashiv, the Baal Haleshem, maternal grandfather of Rav Shalom Elyashiv. R' Elyashiv circa 1917 Photo courtesy 'Hashakdan' AV 5772 AUGUST 2012 41