Gershon Edelstein
Yerachmiel Gershon Edelstein was a Soviet-born Israeli Haredi rabbi who was rosh yeshiva of the Ponevezh Yeshiva, president of the Vaad Hayeshivos, and the spiritual leader of the Degel HaTorah party in Israel. He was widely considered to be a Gadol Hador by the Litvish community.
After the death of Rabbi Aharon Yehuda Leib Shteinman in late 2017, Rabbi Edelstein, together with Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky, led the Degel HaTorah movement, representing most of the Litvak-Haredi community. From March 2022, following the death of Rabbi Kanievsky, Rabbi Edelstein assumed sole leadership of the Litvak public.
Biography
Edelstein was born in the town of Shumyachi near Smolensk, in the Soviet Union, to Rabbi Tzvi Yehuda Edelstein, the city's rabbi and son of Rabbi Yerachmiel Gershon Edelstein, author of Ben Aryeh on the Talmud, and to Miriam, daughter of Rabbi Mordechai Shlomo Movshovitz, rabbi of Melastovka.His mother obtained falsified birth certificates with incorrect dates for her sons, marking them as three years younger than their actual ages so they would not be enrolled in state-supervised schools under the Yevsektsiya. He studied Torah under Rabbi Zalman Leib Estolin, a Chabadnik, in exchange for his father Rabbi Tzvi Yehuda tutoring Estolin in Gemara and Rishonim. After his mother fell ill with typhus, he and his younger brother, Rabbi Yaakov Edelstein, were sent to their aunt, Rebbetzin Rivka Tzivia Paz, in Klimovich, where they were raised by another Chabad rabbi, Rabbi Moshe Axelrod, who later sent them to study Torah secretly under Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu Shneor, also a Chabad follower and disciple of their father. There, they received news of their mother's death.
In the month of Nisan 1934, their father secured a permit to emigrate to the Land of Israel, assisted by Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook, and requested his sons return to Shumyachi. During this period, their grandmother Rebbetzin Raizel managed the household and raised the brothers, allowing their father to focus on Torah study. In the month of Iyar 1934, the family traveled on the ship "Novo Russia" from Odessa to the Land of Israel, arriving on Lag B'Omer. The family traveled to Jerusalem, where they visited Rabbi Isser Zalman Meltzer and Rabbi Kook, who had studied together with their grandfather, Rabbi Yerachmiel Gershon Edelstein, at the Volozhin Yeshiva.
In Elul 5694, after several months of moving between relatives, their father settled the family in Ramat HaSharon. Since there was no religious school in Ramat HaSharon, their father taught the boys at home, using crates of oranges as desks due to a lack of furniture. They studied Gemara with Rosh and Rif, and for some tractates, also the Tur and Beit Yosef. On Shabbat, they studied Rambam on topics related to the tractate. The brothers also learned grammar, arithmetic, and English, which was the official language at the time, with a special tutor brought to their home.
In 1935, their father was appointed as the local rabbi. Towards Elul 5702, the sons were sent to Lomza Yeshiva following Gershon's encouragement. They walked from their home to the yeshiva in Petach Tikvah on the first of Elul, unaware that the term had begun the previous day. The mashgiach, Rabbi Avraham Abba Grossbard, said he had no room left for them. Shlomo Zalman Moses, the yeshiva’s secretary, met them and invited them to sleep at his home until beds were found for them at the yeshiva in early Cheshvan. Following their father’s instruction, they joined the study group of Rabbi Shmuel Rozovsky.
A year later, their father remarried to Rachel, and he asked his sons to return, explaining that with the rebbetzin now taking on household responsibilities, they could focus on their studies without interruption. The brothers resumed their study routine with their father. In the winter of 5704, when the Ponevezh Yeshiva was established, Rabbi Shmuel Rozovsky, who had been appointed as a head of the yeshiva, asked their father to have them join the founding group of the yeshiva. They were among the first six students at the yeshiva, which was then located in the Ligman Synagogue in Bnei Brak, with the students staying in rented rooms around the city. The two younger brothers stayed in the home of Rabbi Michel Yehuda Lefkowitz, who rented out his only bedroom to the yeshiva.
The founder of the yeshiva, Rabbi Yosef Shlomo Kahaneman, appointed him to teach Holocaust survivor students who had arrived at the orphanage institution "Batei Avot." In 5706, he was appointed to give lectures to younger students at the yeshiva. In 5708, he married Hennie Rachel, daughter of Rabbi Yehoshua Zelig Diskin, rabbi of Pardes Hanna, and in that same year, Rabbi Kahaneman appointed him as a teacher at the yeshiva.
Rabbi Edelstein was close to Rabbi Avrohom Yeshaya Karelitz, known as the Chazon Ish. After the death of his father on the 20th of Cheshvan 5711, he deliberated whether to take on the position of Rabbi of Ramat HaSharon. However, as he was already holding a position at the yeshiva and due to his wife's refusal to relocate from Bnei Brak, the role was assigned to his brother, Rabbi Yaakov Edelstein.
In the mid-1990s, succession disputes emerged within the Ponevezh Yeshiva. Following a ruling from a rabbinical court on the matter, Rabbi Edelstein began delivering a general lecture to the students in Iyar 5760, effectively becoming a Rosh Yeshiva along with Rabbi Baruch Dov Povarsky. Later, Rabbi Shmuel Markovitz also joined them.
Due to the ongoing dispute, Rabbi Edelstein led the yeshiva's split into two factions. Today, the Ponevezh Yeshiva complex houses two yeshivas: one led by Rabbi Edelstein until his death, and the other headed by Rabbi Markovitz. His yeshiva’s Shabbat and holiday prayers take place in the "Ohel Kedoshim" building and not in the main yeshiva hall.
In 5763, Rabbi Edelstein was appointed to the Council of Torah Sages of the Degel HaTorah party.
In 5761, during one of Rabbi Edelstein's lectures, students opposing him disrupted the session in an attempt to halt it. Rabbi Aharon Yehuda Leib Shteinman sent him a letter expressing protest against those who disrespected Rabbi Edelstein’s Torah stature, with an added request to forgive them. In 5768, opponents threw a cup of yogurt at him from a building window. Following this, a rally of support was held at his yeshiva, attended by Rabbis Chaim Kanievsky, Michel Yehuda Lefkowitz and Nissim Karelitz. Rabbi Shteinman sent a letter to the gathering.
After his wife's death, Rabbi Edelstein established a class on the Order of Taharot at his home on Saturday nights in her memory.
Rabbi Edelstein served as the baal tokeah at the Ponevezh Yeshiva from 1946 until Rosh Hashanah of his last year. Following his death, the role was transferred to his son, Rabbi Yisrael Edelstein, one of the heads of the Beit Midrash Elyon Yeshiva.
Death and funeral
In May 2023, during the holiday of Shavuot, Rabbi Edelstein was admitted to Mayanei Hayeshua Medical Center in Bnei Brak due to breathing difficulties. A few days later, his condition worsened, and on the morning of Tuesday, the 10th of Sivan, 5783, he died at the age of 100.His funeral took place on the day of his death in Bnei Brak, starting from the Ponevezh Yeshiva hall and proceeding to the Ponevezh Yeshiva cemetery. According to police estimates, around 200,000 people attended.
Views
Torah
Rabbi Edelstein held the view that study should be adapted to each student's nature. According to him, when the style of learning aligns with the learner’s character, their enjoyment and satisfaction increase, making it easier to persevere in study over the years, in line with the Litvak ideal. He also believed that most students benefit more from a fast pace of study, covering many pages. Additionally, he considered acquiring familiarity and expanding knowledge essential for forming sound logic and a proper understanding of Talmudic discussions, providing greater satisfaction for the learner. Rabbi Edelstein also emphasized the importance of studying mussar. In most of his talks, he encouraged the importance of mussar study, even mentioning its necessity in the eulogy he gave for Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky, noting the benefits it brings to a person’s character and all areas of life. He also stressed that mussar study should be done joyfully and with books that interest the individual.Education and family
Rabbi Edelstein encouraged educators to form personal connections with their students, which he considered the foundation for instilling a love of Torah in children.He opposed extreme behaviors that harm natural relationships between individuals and their surroundings. In a talk to married yeshiva students, he said:
He strongly and consistently emphasized the need to educate children with kindness, avoiding coercion or creating a negative atmosphere. He believed that by explaining things to children, they come to understand what is right and good, and when they struggle, forcing them only causes a negative reaction. The correct approach, he said, is to encourage and create motivation. When asked about parents' insistence on teenagers who miss the times for Kriyat Shema and tefillah, he stressed, "With kindness! Without coercion!" When further asked if they should "nag" them, he launched into an unusually long response:
He viewed those who left religious observance and "dropouts" as "tinokot she'nishbu", calling for them to be "treated with honor and friendliness." He strongly opposed any approach that alienates them from the family or scolds them, and went so far as to emphasize the obligation to embrace them within the family, even more so than other children. He advised providing them with financial support, even for needs like clothing that might not align with religious standards, alongside an effort to inspire change through gentle persuasion.
He advised men struggling with shalom bayit to follow what he called "silence and respect," meaning: the husband should remain silent when his wife expresses dissatisfaction or anger toward him, and should not respond so as to avoid escalating a conflict. Additionally, he advised always showing respect in all circumstances, which, he said, would lead to a happy and loving marital life. He frequently emphasized in his weekly talks that even if one spouse is angry with the other, they must not raise their voice, as self-restraint prevents anger both in marital relationships and interactions with others.