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Thu Jul 19, 2012, 01:15 PM Jul 2012

Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv dies at 102; ultraorthodox religious arbiter

Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv interpreted religious writings concerning contemporary issues. As the supreme authority of an ultraorthodox political party, he influenced Israeli politics.



Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv, shown in 2001, was the head authority of United Torah Judaism, a small but powerful political party in Israel. (Associated Press / September 14, 2001)

By Batsheva Sobelman, Los Angeles Times

July 19, 2012
Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv, considered one of his generation's most influential religious arbiters, died Wednesday at Jerusalem's Shaare Zedek Medical Center. He was 102 and had been in declining health.

Elyashiv's rulings left a deep mark on many Jews who followed his interpretation of religious writings concerning contemporary issues; for example, whether to keep a patient on life support. Other decisions influenced Israeli politics, as the rabbi was the head authority of United Torah Judaism, a small but powerful political party.

"The people of Israel have lost a great rabbi, a sharp ruler and a man of outstanding wisdom," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement. "We grieve his passing."

Born in Lithuania in 1910 to a line of rabbinical scholars, Elyashiv settled in the ultraorthodox Jerusalem neighborhood of Mea Shearim after moving to Palestine with his family in 1924.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/middleeast/la-me-rabbi-elyashiv-20120719,0,866898.story

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