From the Liveblog of
Friday, March 18, 2022
New York City mayor pays tribute to Kanievsky
Luke Tress is a JTA reporter and a former editor and reporter in New York for The Times of Israel.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams pays tribute to Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky, a major Israeli religious figure who died earlier today.
“Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky was a giant of the Torah and I join our Jewish community in mourning his loss,” Adams says.
“May his memory be for a blessing and may his wisdom and good works continue to inspire,” he says.
Adams has close, longstanding ties to New York Jewish communities.
Before becoming mayor, he served as the borough president of Brooklyn, where he forged relationships with some of its Haredi Jewish communities in areas like Williamsburg and Crown Heights.
He has appointed religious Jews to his administration and to his transition team before assuming office.
Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky was a giant of the Torah and I join our Jewish community in mourning his loss.
May his memory be for a blessing and may his wisdom and good works continue to inspire. https://t.co/UIaWmheWGd
— Mayor Eric Adams (@NYCMayor) March 18, 2022
Agudath Israel of America, an Orthodox umbrella organization based in New York, says Kanievsky’s “influence on the Torah world was unparalleled.”
“Rabbi Kanievsky’s greatness cannot be captured in a few words; our loss is incalculable. This is a time for introspection, when each and every one of us should recognize the special responsibility we have to strengthen ourselves in Torah, to collectively fill in some small measure the terrible void created by the passing of Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky.”
