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