JEWISH ACTION SUMMER 2013 Discovering Rav Elyashiv by Yosef Gavriel Bechhofer

Since his recent petirah, much has been said and written about Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv, zt”l, one of the greatest posekim of the post-World War II era. Nevertheless, despite his very public profile—as awe-inspiring as it is—Rav Elyashiv was a very private person. Although Rav Elyashiv was surrounded by many people—even great talmidei chachamim—they convey to us much more of what he said in extemporaneous conversation, and much less of his thought process. Rav Elyashiv thus remains very much a “closed book.” This is notwithstanding the volumes of Rav Elyashiv’s writings that have been published, as he did not write in a systematic manner. Moreover, even the teshuvot that have been published are only available as edited by his talmidim, who have cut sections out and inserted many ellipses in the remaining sections, dimming whatever light they might have shed on Rav Elyashiv’s derech. Outlined below is just one of the numerous pathways that together comprise his derech—Rav Elyashiv’s approach to issues of public policy, both historical and contemporary, as reflected in his responsa.