Rabbi Yitzchok Scheiner (November 5, 1922 – January 31, 2021) was an Israeli–American rabbi who was the '' rosh yeshiva'' of the Kamenitz yeshiva of Jerusalem.

Early life and education

He was born in May 1922 in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...

to immigrants from

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

. He graduated Peabody High School in 1938. During the 1940s, he studied at Yeshiva College ( Yeshivas Rabbenu Yitzchok Elchonon)and was a talmid (student) of R'

Moshe Aharon Poleyeff Moshe Aharon Poleyeff (1888 – 1966) was an American rabbi, teaching at Yeshiva University (YU) in New York where he was a Rosh Yeshiva for over 45 years, training generations of rabbis, including Rav Mordechai Gifter. Biography Moshe Aharon P ...

and at

Yeshiva Torah Vodaas Yeshiva Torah Vodaas (or Yeshiva and Mesivta Torah Vodaath or Yeshiva Torah Vodaath or Torah Vodaath Rabbinical Seminary ) is a ''yeshiva'' in the Kensington neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. History The yeshiva was conceived in 1917 and for ...

under Rabbi

Shlomo Heiman Shlomo Heiman, (1892–1945) known informally as "Reb Shlomo", was a rabbi, Talmudist, and rosh yeshiva. He led some of the most prominent yeshivas in Europe and the United States. Early life Shlomo Heiman was born in Paritsh, Minsk in Belaru ...

Career

During the 1960s, he taught at a Yeshiva in

Montreux Montreux (, , ; frp, Montrolx) is a Swiss municipality and town on the shoreline of Lake Geneva at the foot of the Alps. It belongs to the district of Riviera-Pays-d'Enhaut in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland, and has a population of approxima ...

, Switzerland. After the death of his father-in-law (who was the ''rosh yeshiva'' of the Kamenitz yeshiva in Jerusalem),

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 ...

Scheiner headed the yeshiva alongside his brother-in-law. After the death of his brother-in-law in 1998, Rabbi Scheiner served as the central ''rosh yeshiva'' with his brother-in-law's son at his side. Rabbi Scheiner's two sons and his son-in-law also teach at the yeshiva. In the 1990s, he became a member of the

Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah (, "Council of great Torah ages) is the supreme rabbinical policy-making council of the Agudat Yisrael and Degel HaTorah movements in Israel; and of Agudath Israel of America in the United States. Members are usually pr ...

Degel HaTorah Degel HaTorah ( he, דגל התורה, , Banner of the Torah) is an Ashkenazi Haredi political party in Israel. For much of its existence, it has been allied with Agudat Yisrael, under the name United Torah Judaism. History Degel HaTorah ...

Personal life

Toward the end of the 1940s, he married a granddaughter of Rabbi Boruch Ber Leibowitz. His wife died in 2007. He lived in the

Kerem Avraham Kerem Avraham, in English Abraham's Vineyard, is a neighbourhood near Geula in central Jerusalem, founded in 1855. It is bounded by Malkhei Yisrael Street, Yechezkel Street, Tzefanya Street, and the Schneller Compound. The 1855 mission house wa ...

neighborhood in Jerusalem. Scheiner died from

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

during the

COVID-19 pandemic in Israel The COVID-19 pandemic in Israel also known as the coronavirus pandemic in Israel ( he, מגפת הקורונה בישראל) is part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavi ...

on 31 January 2021 at the age of 98.Rabbi Yitzhok Scheiner, 98, dies of COVID during mass funeral of fellow top rabbi
/ref> His death occurred just hours after that of Rabbi Meshulam Dovid Soloveitchik. An estimated 8,000 mourners attended Scheiner's Jerusalem burial.

References

1922 births 2021 deaths People from Pittsburgh American Haredi rabbis American people of Polish-Jewish descent Israeli Rosh yeshivas Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in Israel 20th-century rabbis in Jerusalem 21st-century rabbis in Jerusalem {{Israel-rabbi-stub