Elazar Shach | |
|---|---|
אלעזר שך | |
 | |
| Personal | |
| Born | Elazar Menachem Man Shach January 1, 1899 |
| Died | November 2, 2001 (aged 102) |
| Religion | Judaism |
| Spouse | Guttel Gilmovsky |
| Children | Miriam Raisel, Devorah, Ephraim |
| Parent(s) | Ezriel and Batsheva Shach |
| Alma mater | Slabodka Yeshiva |
| Yeshiva | Ponevezh Yeshiva |
| Buried | Bnei Brak, Israel |
| Semikhah | Isser Zalman Meltzer |
Elazar Menachem Man Shach (Hebrew: אלעזר מנחם מן שך, Elazar Shach; January 1, 1899 O.S. – November 2, 2001) was a Haredi rabbi who headed Lithuanian Orthodox Jews in Israel and around the world from the early 1970s until his death. He served as chair of the Council of Sages and one of three co-deans of the Ponevezh Yeshiva in Bnei Brak, along with Shmuel Rozovsky and Dovid Povarsky.
Due to his differences with the Hasidic leadership of the Agudat Yisrael political party, he allied with Ovadia Yosef, with whom he founded the Shas party in 1984. Later, in 1988, Shach criticized Ovadia Yosef, saying that Sepharadim were not yet ready for leadership positions,[1] and subsequently founded the Degel HaTorah political party representing the Litvaks in the Israeli Knesset.
- ^ 'Haaretz' daily newspaper, Shachar Ilan, November 2, 2001