Avrohom Yeshaya Karelitz
Israeli rabbi (1878-1953)
Avraham Yeshayahu Karelitz (Hebrew: אברהם ישעיהו קרליץ; 7 November 1878 – 24 October 1953), also known as the Chazon Ish (Hebrew: החזון איש) after a book he wrote, was a Belarusian-born Orthodox rabbi who became one of the leaders of Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) Judaism in Israel, where he moved in 1933.
Biography
Youth
Born in the town of Kosava in the Grodno Governorate of the Russian Empire (today in Belarus). His father, Shmaryahu Yosef Karelitz, served as the town's rabbi. His mother, Rashe Leah, was the daughter of the previous town rabbi, Shaul Katzenelnbogen.
Except for a short period in which he studied in the "kibbutz" of R' Chaim Ozer Grodzinski in Vilna, Avraham Yeshayahu Karelitz did not study in a cheder or yeshiva, and apparently was never officially ordained as a rabbi. His Torah education was received from his father and a private melamed named R' Moshe Tuvia. He quotes Torah teachings from this teacher in several places in his writings. According to David Frankel, Karelitz said that his father hired a private melamed to keep him away from the company of children his age and idle chatter. For most of his life, he was self-taught. His mother later told Rebbetzin Malka Finkel, wife of Rabbi Eliezer Yehuda Finkel, that even in childhood he studied with great diligence.
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The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 29, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q543442. VIAF identifies the subject as 37717750. The Library of Congress control number is n83003278. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1878, 1953 and 1933.
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