Background
Gedaliah Nadel was born in Šiauliai, Lithuania to Rabbi Reuven Keshel.
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Gedaliah Nadel
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There, he studied under Rabbi Elazar Menachem Shach. Afterwards Gedaliah studied under Rabbi Avrohom Yeshaya Karelitz, known as Chazon Ish, who molded him into his principal student.
Career
Rabbi Nadel is celebrated as an expert in all facets of Torah and Talmudic knowledge. In 1936, his family immigrated to Palestine and settled in the Balfouria Colony in what is now Northern Israel. After briefly studying in Yeshiva in Tel Aviv, he switched to the Lomzha Yeshiva in Petach Tikvah.
As a child, Gedaliah was known for his diligence and devotion to studying Torah, reportedly studying for up to eighteen hours consecutively.
Rabbi Nadel said that the Chazon Ish garnered knowledge in medical science by reading medical journals. Rabbi Nadel married the daughter of Rabbi Eliyahu Weiner, a student of the Chofetz Chaim.
Following the wedding, they lived in Jerusalem for a short while, before moving to Bene Barak. There he lived an ascetic life.
When the Chazon Ish realized his dream of establish a special community of religious devotees, he chose Rabbi Gedaliah Nadel to lead the community.
Rabbi Nadel"s house was used as a gathering place for the Rabbinic personalities of his day, such as Rabbi Shach and Rabbi Y.Y. Kanievsky. Rabbi Nadel also briefly served as the Rosh Yeshiva of the Vishnitz Hasidic yeshiva. Rabbi Nadel would learn Maimonides" Guide for the Perplexed immediately after praying Shacharis vattikin.
Rabbi Nadel asserted that certain concepts mentioned in the Torah and Talmud that were not of a legalistic nature were not necessarily to be taken literally.
His writings were analyzed and taken into account during the Slifkin affair. Rabbi Natan Slifkin himself subscribes to views espoused by Rabbi Nadel, including acceptance of evolution and belief "that the world was billions of years old." Rabbi Nadel maintained that it is acceptable to believe that the Zohar was not written by Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai and that it had a late authorship.
Rabbi Nadel"s teachings have continued to exert influence on Hareidi leaders.
