The Torah sage Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky appears to have been the person least expected to head the large ultra-Orthodox Lithuanian sect. He was a tremendous prodigy of unparalleled Torah knowledge, an extremely original and prolific writer, and a rare figure in every sense.
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Long before he became the preeminent authority on Jewish Law, his genius astounded all who were exposed to it. In my childhood and teenage years, the kids played this game where they'd send the rabbi a particularly challenging question, and he would respond to every inquiry, large and small alike, in a letter of his own. The answers were almost always short and concise, sometimes consisting of just one word, "yes," or "depends on the disagreement," but they were always wise and belayed an endless fountain of knowledge.
The most popular story about him was that he was once asked how many times the name Moses was mentioned in the Torah. The rabbi made a quick calculation and gave a number, and before even waiting for confirmation, told the person: "You probably came to a different answer on your calculator, because the calculator also took into account the verses in which the pattern of letters "משה" (the Hebrew letters Mem, Shin, Hay, that spell Moshe, in Hebrew) appears but has a different meaning."
His perseverance was immense. He simply studied Torah with endless concentration and continuity, from his childhood to the day he died two days ago. Contrary to previous leaders, he hadn't held any position of leadership beforehand and hadn't served in any official capacity. All his days were essentially spent studying and making a modest living from the kollel (institute for full-time, advanced study of the Talmud and rabbinic literature) scholarship.
The aura of righteousness that stuck to him in his later years also caused him palpable discomfort. Truly, his world consisted only of the study of Torah and Jewish Law. He was even unfamiliar with money, and tales of his complete disconnect from everyday experiences accompanied him his entire life.
It was because of this, perhaps, that his unnatural and unexpected leadership was ultimately accepted. Thousands of his followers felt he was guided by true devotion to Torah, and chose to follow that voice. In his life he was venerated to no end, hence the loss his students feel on this day is boundless. A giant sage has fallen in Israel.
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