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Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv, the leader of the Lithuanian haredi Orthodox and considered this generation’s leading halachic authority, has died.

Elyashiv, who had been hospitalized and on a respirator due to complications from congestive heart failure, died July 18 in Jerusalem. He was 102.

Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv photo/jta-flash90-yosef

Elyashiv shunned social contact and communal endeavors. He spent nearly every waking moment studying rabbinical literature and making rulings in the field of Jewish law. Elyashiv’s rulings on Jewish law follow a deeply conservative, stringent approach.

Elyashiv prohibited haredi institutions from receiving charity from Christians; he ruled that it was forbidden to use elevators on Shabbat, including those preprogrammed to work automatically; and he took a stringent position on the halachic definition of death, making it nearly impossible for Jews to donate organs.

In 2005, Elyashiv ruled in favor of joining Ariel Sharon’s government, providing it with essential backing ahead of the withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and the evacuation of 8,500 Jewish settlers living there. In exchange, Elyashiv demanded an immediate halt to all attempts to limit the complete educational autonomy of haredi educational institutions, including those partially funded by the state.

Born in 1910 in Siauliai, Lithuania, Elyashiv moved to Palestine with his parents when he was 14. He later served on the High Rabbinical Court, before he distanced himself from the establishment Zionist rabbinate and became a leader of the haredi Orthodox establishment.

He and his wife, Sheina Chaya, who died in 1994 and was a daughter of prominent Rabbi Aryeh Levin, had 12 children. Three years ago, one of Elyashiv’s great-grandchildren became a grandfather. — jta