Shlomo Elyashiv (Eliashov) (January 5, 1841 2 Tevet 5602">Tevet.html" ;"title="2 Tevet">2 Tevet 5602- March 13, 1926 [27 Adar">Tevet">2_Tevet<_a>_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]) (), 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 (; ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of Haskalah#Effects, modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cen ...

, studied in the yeshivot of

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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 HaCohen Kook (; 7 September 1865 – 1 September 1935), known as HaRav Kook, and also known by the Hebrew-language acronym Hara'ayah (), was an Orthodox Judaism, Orthodox rabbi, and the first Ashkenazi Jews, Ashkenazi Chief Rabbina ...

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 Chief Rabbi () is a title given in several countries to the recognized religious leader of that country's Jewish community, or to a rabbinic leader appointed by the local secular authorities. Since 1911, through a capitulation by Ben-Zion Meir ...

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. The definitions ...

. 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 (; 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 leader of both Israel and the Diaspora ...

), 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

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. The Mount of Olives had been a traditional Hebrew/Jewish burial location in antiquity. The present-day main cemetery is approximately fiv ...

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

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 The ''Zohar'' (, ''Zōhar'', lit. "Splendor" or "Radiance") is a foundational work of Kabbalistic literature. It is a group of books including commentary on the mystical aspects of the Torah and scriptural interpretations as well as material o ...

'', Arizal, and the

Vilna Gaon Elijah ben Solomon Zalman, ( ''Rabbi Eliyahu ben Shlomo Zalman''), also known as the Vilna Gaon ( ''Der Vilner Goen''; ; or Elijah of Vilna, or by his Hebrew acronym Gr"a ("Gaon Rabbenu Eliyahu": "Our great teacher Elijah"; Sialiec, April 23, 172 ...

, 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