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I did not like the article all that much, but I think it’s quite moving that this picture graced the front page of the NYT
I don’t blame the NYT entirely for the story. The trend of popularizing Rav Chaim Kanievsky for public consumption—distracting, perhaps unintentionally, from the actual contribution of his Torah—is something that’s been going on for a while and many are guilty of.
If all you’ve seen from Rav Chaim Kanievsky are seforim collecting his one line responses and headline news articles he’s quoted in, I am afraid you know as much about Rav Chaim Kanievsky as I know, l’havdil, about James Joyce.
Rav Chaim Kanievsky’s works—the ones he actually wrote—are simply jaw-dropping tour de forces of Torah scholarship on topics that have largely been ignored or in need of systematic treatment.
He is truly the Sar HaTorah, prince of Torah scholarship of our generation.
He is truly the Sar HaTorah, prince of Torah scholarship of our generation.
For most—even those who are comfortable learning Torah—his works are fairly inaccessible or on topics most never really explore.
Learning about him from those one-liner collections is like thinking you understand Houdini bc you saw him explain a basic magic trick to a child.
Learning about him from those one-liner collections is like thinking you understand Houdini bc you saw him explain a basic magic trick to a child.
Ashreinu Sh’zachinu—how meritous we all are—to have witnessed someone who spent every moment of their waking life immersed in Torah.
Let’s all just make sure we understand and appreciate what we saw—and what we did not.
Let’s all just make sure we understand and appreciate what we saw—and what we did not.
