"He was always a family man. He loved his children and closely monitored their development. Until his very last day, he always needed his children around him"
But for his children, he was Abba — a warm and loving father who was decidedly more elevated than the other fathers they knew, but always involved in their lives and visibly happier when his children were around his table.
Rav Chaim himself grew up in a tightly bound family. His father, Rav Yaakov Yisrael Kanievsky, was known as the Steipler Gaon. His mother, Rebbetzin Pesha Miriam, was a daughter of Rav Shmaryahu Yosef Karelitz, rav of Kosava, Belarus. She was also a sister of the Chazon Ish, Rav Avraham Yeshaya Karelitz.
Rebbetzin Pesha Miriam’s two sisters married Torah royalty as well: One brother-in-law was Rav Shmuel Greineman, father of Rav Chaim Greineman; another was Rav Nachum Meir Karelitz, the father of Rav Nissim.
Rav Chaim was born in Pinsk, but the family immigrated to Eretz Yisrael when he was a child and settled in Bnei Brak. Soon enough the Torah giants of the extended families became the prime forces shaping not only the Torah community of Bnei Brak, but the entire country.
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