15 Cheshvan 5714
Rav Avraham Yeshaya Karelitz was born to his father, Rav Shmaryahu Yosef, in 5639 in the small town of Kossova. Already at a young age, his genius was evident, and there wasn’t a melamed in the whole village who could teach him. He learned for a few years under his father, and when he became bar mitzvah, he had expansive knowledge in the sea of Talmud and dedicated his days to learning on his own, with great dedication and prishus.
During World War I, he moved to Vilna, where Harav Chaim Ozer Grodzhenski discerned his greatness, and often shared matters of the community with him and sought his advice.
Slowly, his name gained renown throughout Lithuania and Poland. In 5671, he published a compilation of his chiddushei Torah anonymously, entitled Chazon Ish. Since then, over the years, he added to the series, printing one sefer after another.
When he moved to Eretz Yisrael in 5693, Rav Chaim Ozer sent a letter of introduction to the sages of Eretz Yisrael informing them: “A lion has ascended from Bavel to Eretz Yisrael.” The Chazon Ish lived in the Land for twenty years. For a short time, he lived in a room in Tel Aviv, and then moved to Bnei Brak. As the posek and leader of the generation, his home in Bnei Brak drew tens of thousands of people.
On Friday night of Parashas Lech Lecha 5714, he returned his soul to is Maker at the age of 73. After Shabbos, he was laid to rest in the Zichron Meir cemetery in Bnei Brak.
