Yosef Shalom Elyashiv was born in 1910, in Shavel, Lithuania. He was the only child of R’ Avraham and Rebbetzin Chaya Musha Elyashiv (his father took his mother’s last name). His mother was the daughter of the famous mekubal, R’ Shlomo Elyashiv, known as the Leshem (after the sefer he wrote).
In 1924, the Elyashiv family moved to Yerushalayim. Yosef Shalom learned in the Yeshivas Etz Chaim in Yerushalayim. He spent the rest of his life in Yerushalayim. In 1934, at the age of twenty-four, Yosef Shalom married Sheina Chaya, the daughter of R’ Aryeh Levin, who was known as the tzaddik of Yerushalayim.
In 1948, he was appointed a dayan on the Beis Din of Yerushalayim. Throughout his life he learned with hasmadah and was an expert in halachah. His reputation as a leading halachic authority grew. He became known as the posek hador, the posek of the generation, until his petirah in 2012.
Reprinted from the Parshas Eikev 5785 edition of At the Artscroll Shabbos Table. Excerpted from the ArtScroll book – “When They Were Young: Stories of Our Gedolim as Children” by Rabbi Yerachmiel Garfield.
