Shlomo Elyashiv (Eliashov) (January 5, 1841
2_Tevet_5602.html"_;"title="Tevet.html"_;"title="2_Tevet">2_Tevet_5602">Tevet.html"_;"title="2_Tevet">2_Tevet_5602-_March_13,_1926_[27_Adar.html" ;"title="Tevet">2_Tevet_5602.html" ;"title="Tevet.html" ;"title="2 Tevet">2 Tevet 5602">Tevet.html" ;"title="2 Tevet">2 Tevet 5602- March 13, 1926 [27 Adar">Tevet">2_Tevet_5602.html" ;"title="Tevet.html" ;"title="2 Tevet">2 Tevet 5602">Tevet.html" ;"title="2 Tevet">2 Tevet 5602- March 13, 1926 [27 Adar, 5676]) ( he, שלמה בן חיים חייקל אלישיב), also known as the ''Leshem'' or ''Ba'al HaLeshem'', was a famous Kabbalah, kabbalist, who was born in Šiauliai, Lithuania, and later moved to the Land of Israel.
Biography
His father was Rabbi
Chayim Chaikl Eliashoff.
Rabbi Elyashev, a brilliant
talmudist
The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the center ...
, studied in the yeshivot of
Minsk
Minsk ( be, Мінск ; russian: Минск) is the capital and the largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach and the now subterranean Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the admi ...
and
Telz. In addition to his own works on Kabbalah (''Leshem''), he was instrumental in printing works of earlier kabbalists.
Aliyah
Eliashiv taught Rabbi
Abraham Isaac Kook
Abraham Isaac Kook (; 7 September 1865 – 1 September 1935), known as Rav Kook, and also known by the acronym HaRaAYaH (), was an Orthodox rabbi, and the first Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of British Mandatory Palestine. He is considered to be one ...
Kabbalah when Rabbi Kook was the young rabbi of the town of
Zoimel. Rabbi Kook was granted a month-long leave of absence to study with the famous
kabbalist in
Shavel.
In 1922, when Rabbi Kook was serving as
chief rabbi of Jerusalem, Rabbi Elyashiv asked him for assistance in settling in
Eretz Yisrael
The Land of Israel () is the traditional Jewish name for an area of the Southern Levant. Related biblical, religious and historical English terms include the Land of Canaan, the Promised Land, the Holy Land, and Palestine (see also Israe ...
. Due to Rav Kook's intervention, the great kabbalist, his son-in-law, daughter, and his eleven-year-old grandson (who would grow up to be the great scholar Rabbi
Yosef Shalom Elyashiv
Yosef Shalom Elyashiv ( he, יוסף שלום אלישיב; 10 April 1910 – 18 July 2012) was a Haredi Rabbi and ''posek'' (arbiter of Jewish law) who lived in Jerusalem. Until his death at the age of 102, Rav Elyashiv was the paramount lead ...
), were allowed to emigrate to the Land of Israel.
"One particularly poignant story tells of a visit the revered Leshem paid to the chief rabbi. It was a bitterly cold winter evening and Rav Kook noted that the Leshem had no coat. Rav Kook immediately took his own fur-lined coat from his closet and gave it to the elderly man as a gift. This coat remained in the Elyashiv family as an heirloom and was periodically worn by Rabbi
Yosef Shalom Elyashiv
Yosef Shalom Elyashiv ( he, יוסף שלום אלישיב; 10 April 1910 – 18 July 2012) was a Haredi Rabbi and ''posek'' (arbiter of Jewish law) who lived in Jerusalem. Until his death at the age of 102, Rav Elyashiv was the paramount lead ...
on wintry days."
Rabbi Elyashiv died in 1926, and is buried in
Mount of Olives Jewish Cemetery
The Jewish Cemetery on the Mount of Olives is the oldest and most important Jewish cemetery in Jerusalem. It is approximately five centuries old, having been first leased from the Jerusalem Islamic Waqf in the sixteenth century.[ ...]
in
Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
.
Works
The primary work for which Elyashiv is known is ''
Leshem Shevo V’Achlama'', which was written in four parts and released in the following order:
* ''Drushei Olam HaTohu'' (''Sefer HaDei'ah'') - Elyashiv details what happened, based upon the ''
Zohar'',
Arizal, and the
Vilna Gaon, from the first moment of God's emanation of light that we are allowed to study, until physical Creation itself.
* ''Hakdamot u’She’arim'' (''HaKadosh'') - An introduction to Elyashiv's system, based upon the idea of five major revelations that occur between the Divine and humanity; it also contains a discussion of the
Sarugian Lurianic system, particularly of the idea of the "malbush"
* ''Sha’arei Leshem Shevo V’Achlama'', ''Sefer HaBeiurim''
* ''Sha’arei Leshem Shevo V’Achlama'', ''Sefer HaKlallim''
References
External links
Rabbi Eliyahu Yaakov, Complete Audio Series - LESHEM - Hakdamos U’She’arim - "EliTheJew.com"*
ttp://hashkafacircle.com/shiurim/category/leshem/ Audio Shiurim in English on Leshem Shevo V'Achlamah - Hakdamot U-Shearim*
http://www.theleshem.org/ Downloadable English Translations of Selected writings of the Leshem]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Elyashiv, Shlomo
1841 births
1925 deaths
Kabbalists
Lithuanian Orthodox rabbis
Burials at the Jewish cemetery on the Mount of Olives
19th-century Lithuanian rabbis