Background
Avrohom Karelitz was born in Kosava, Russian Empire on November 7, 1878.
Avrohom Karelitz was born in Kosava, Russian Empire on November 7, 1878.
Born in Kossovo in the Russian province of Grodno, and educated by his father from the Talmud, Karelitz was well versed in natural sciences which he studied for the sake of the light they throw on Jewish law and practice.
He lived in various centers of study (Kedainiai, Minsk, and Stolbtsy during World War I) and in 1920 settled in Vilna (Vilnius). He had already in 1911 published his first work on the Shulhan Arukh, the definitive code of Joseph Caro, under the name of Hazon Ish (“Vision of Man,” the work Ish being an acronym of his first names).
He wrote another twenty-three works on Jewish law, all under the same title. Karelitz held no official position, but his halakhic authority was universally recognized, he was consulted on legal, moral, public, and personal problems and was deeply respected for his saintly and a scetic mode of life.
In 1923 he moved to Palestine, settling in Benei Berak; because of his presence, the town’s reputation as a center of Orthodoxy grew. Thousands visited his modest dwelling to obtain his legal decisions and views. He paid particular attention to the neglected agricultural laws of the Bible.
Among his initiatives were the devising of milking machines for use on the Sabbath and permission to use hydroponics to raise produce in the sabbatical year.
On one well-publicized occasion, he was visited by Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion, who came to consult him on the issue of conscripting Talmudic students into the army.
