Shmuel HaLevi Wosner ( he, שמואל הלוי ואזנר, 4 September 1913 – 3 April 2015) was a prominent

Haredi Haredi Judaism ( he, ', ; also spelled ''Charedi'' in English; plural ''Haredim'' or ''Charedim'') consists of groups within Orthodox Judaism that are characterized by their strict adherence to ''halakha'' (Jewish law) and traditions, in oppos ...

rabbi A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as ''semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of ...

and

posek In Jewish law, a ''Posek'' ( he, פוסק , pl. ''poskim'', ) is a legal scholar who determines the position of ''halakha'', the Jewish religious laws derived from the written and Oral Torah in cases of Jewish law where previous authorities a ...

("decisor of

Jewish law ''Halakha'' (; he, הֲלָכָה, ), also Romanization of Hebrew, transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Judaism, Jewish religious laws which is derived from the Torah, written and Oral Tora ...

") living in

Bnei Brak Bnei Brak or Bene Beraq ( he, בְּנֵי בְּרַק ) is a city located on the central Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean Israeli coastal plain, coastal plain in Israel, just east of Tel Aviv. A center of Haredi Judaism, Bnei Brak covers an are ...

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

. He was known as the ''Shevet HaLevi'' after his major work.

Biography

Wosner was born in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

Austro-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

and studied in the Yeshivas Chachmei Lublin of Poland led by Rabbi

Meir Shapiro Yehuda Meir Shapiro ( pl, Majer Jehuda Szapira; March 3, 1887 – October 27, 1933), was a prominent Polish Hasidic rabbi and rosh yeshiva, also known as the Lubliner Rav. He is noted for his promotion of the Daf Yomi study program in 1923, a ...

. He was also a student of Rabbi Shimon of Zelicov who was the official supervisor at the Yeshiva. In Vienna, he had known and befriended the Rabbi

Chanoch Dov Padwa Rabbi Chanoch Dov Padwa (17 August 1908 – 16 August 2000) was a world-renowned Orthodox Jewish posek, Talmudist and rabbinic leader. Early years Chanoch Dov Padwa was born on 17 August 1908 (20 Av 5668 in the Hebrew calendar) in Busk, a smal ...

of Galicia. He married and immigrated to Palestine before the

Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...

and settled in

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

, where he studied at the Dushinsky yeshiva. It was in that time that, in spite of his young age, he became a member of the

Edah HaChareidis The Charedi Council of Jerusalem ( he, העדה החרדית, ''haEdah haCharedit'', Ashkenazi pronunciation: ''ha-Aideh Charaidis'' or ''ha-Eido ha-Chareidis''; "Congregation of God-Fearers") is a large Haredi Judaism, Haredi Judaism, Jewish comm ...

. When he relocated to

, upon the incentive of the

Chazon Ish Avraham Yeshaya Karelitz (7 November 1878 – 24 October 1953), also known as the Chazon Ish () after his magnum opus, was a Belarusian-born Orthodox rabbi who later became one of the leaders of Haredi Judaism in Israel, where he spent his ...

, Rabbi Dov Berish Widenfeld of Tshebin, Rabbi

Isser Zalman Meltzer Isser Zalman Meltzer ( he, איסר זלמן מלצר) (February 6, 1870 – November 17, 1953),Isser Zalman Meltzer "Even HaEzel" (1870 - 1953) was a famous Lithuanian Jewish and Belarusian Orthodox rabbi, rosh yeshiva and posek. He is also kn ...

, and Rabbi

Yitzhak HaLevi Herzog Yitzhak HaLevi Herzog ( he, יצחק אייזיק הלוי הרצוג; 3 December 1888 – 25 July 1959), also known as Isaac Herzog or Hertzog, was the first Chief Rabbi of Ireland, his term lasted from 1921 to 1936. From 1936 until his deat ...

, he established the Zichron Meir neighborhood and Yeshiva Chachmei Lublin, bearing the same name as the one in Lublin where he studied in his youth. Wosner is the author of several works of

, including ''Shevet HaLevi'' ("The Tribe of Levi"), a comprehensive series of

halakhic ''Halakha'' (; he, הֲלָכָה, ), also transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Jewish religious laws which is derived from the written and Oral Torah. Halakha is based on biblical commandm ...

rulings and

responsa ''Responsa'' (plural of Latin , 'answer') comprise a body of written decisions and rulings given by legal scholars in response to questions addressed to them. In the modern era, the term is used to describe decisions and rulings made by scholars i ...

on Jewish laws comprising ten volumes, and several other

Torah The Torah (; hbo, ''Tōrā'', "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. In that sense, Torah means the s ...

books all bearing the same name. His halakhic opinions are widely quoted in many works on Jewish law both in Hebrew and English. On May 20, 2012 Ichud HaKehillos LeTohar HaMachane held an ''asifa'' (gathering) at

Citi Field Citi Field is a baseball stadium located in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in New York City, United States. It opened in 2009 and is the home field of Major League Baseball's New York Mets. The stadium was built as a replacement for the adjacent ...

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

to address the dangers of the internet. Wosner spoke via live hookup from Israel to the 60,000 attendees. He banned unfiltered internet use for the Jewish community and allowed filtered internet only for business purposes. He died in

at 101 years of age. Wosner's sons include Rabbi Chaim Wosner (1939-2021), formerly dayan of London's Satmar community, who moved to Bnei Brak to assist his father in the management of the Yeshiva. Another son Rabbi Bentzion Wosner of

Monsey, New York Monsey (, yi, מאנסי, translit=Monsi) is a hamlet and census-designated place in the town of Ramapo, Rockland County, New York, United States, located north of Airmont, east of Viola, south of New Hempstead, and west of Spring Valley. The ...

, is the av bet din of the Shevet Halevi ''beis din''.

Funeral

Wosner was buried late Saturday night, April 4, 2015, in a funeral attended by an estimated 100,000 people. Severe overcrowding in front of Rabbi Wosner's yeshiva, where his body lied in repose, led to the trampling of three men and a 14-year-old boy. The two men, a 27-year-old resident of

Elad El'ad, also spelled Elad ( he, אלעד), is a city in the Central District of Israel. In the 1990s, it was built for a Haredi Jewish population and to a lesser extent, it was also built for a Religious Zionist Jewish population. Located about ...

and an 18-year-old

Toldos Aharon Toldos Aharon is a devout, insular, fervently anti-Zionist Hasidic group. The group is characterized by extreme conservatism and a desire to preserve the life of the old Yishuv in Jerusalem, in sharp opposition to Zionism, in a strict Haredi way ...

Hasid, died of their wounds.

Magen David Adom The Magen David Adom ( he, מגן דוד אדום, abbr. MDA, pronounced ''MAH-dah'' per its Hebrew acronym, ) is Israel's national emergency medical, disaster, ambulance and blood bank service. The name means "Red Shield" or "Red Star of Davi ...

personnel treated over 100 other mourners who sustained injuries at the event.

References

External links

"Pacification or Connection"
(2013)
Rav Shmuel Wosner: Can A Baal Korei Read The Torah With A Transparent Overlay

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wosner, Shmuel 1913 births 2015 deaths Haredi rabbis in Israel Rabbis of the Edah HaChareidis Austrian centenarians Austrian expatriates in Poland Austrian emigrants to Mandatory Palestine Orthodox Jews in Mandatory Palestine Austrian Haredi rabbis Rabbis from Vienna Israeli centenarians Men centenarians