Celebrating the Legacy of the Chazon Ish: A Guide to His Teachings

1. The Greatness of a Torah Scholar: "Indeed, the person who merits Torah knowledge moves among people and appears to the ordinary observer as human, but in truth, he is an angel living among mortals, living a life of nobility and exalted beyond all blessing and praise." (Igrot Chazon Ish I, 13)

2. The Only Pleasure in the World: "My only enjoyment is to fulfill the will of my Creator." (Igrot Chazon Ish I, 153)

3. Living Peacefully and Overcoming Traits: "The way of Torah is to maintain peace with everyone and to pardon... Just as it is not fitting for a scholar to anger and seek revenge against someone who wronged him due to a disturbed spirit, nor should one seek revenge or hate the wrongdoer due to a disturbed mind and lacking moral balance. There is no difference between a scoundrel and a madman." (Chazon Ish, Orach Chaim, Shabbat, Siman 56).

4. Bringing Others Close with Bonds of Love: The 'Chazon Ish' writes remarkable things regarding Jews who do not observe Torah and mitzvot: "There is no place for 'denunciation' except when His providence is openly revealed, and back then, eliminating the wicked was preserving the world," writes the 'Chazon Ish'. "But in times of concealment when faith has cut from the populace, such acts of lowering are not preserving breaches but adding to the breach, appearing as acts of destruction and violence God-forbid..." In further words, the 'Chazon Ish' defines in his golden language the role of Torah scholars during the exile concerning Jews who do not observe Torah: "It is upon us to return them with bands of love and to place them in a spotlight with whatever power we have." (Chazon Ish Yoreh Deah, Siman 2, Sk 16)

5. The Root of Character Refinement: Turn from Evil: "The root of character refinement," writes the 'Chazon Ish', "is turning from evil." He further explains that "it's easy for a person to perform good deeds, but difficult to turn from evil." In his eloquent manner, he elaborates that "there are people ready to dedicate their last strength for the benefit of others, individually and publicly, and are very particular. If someone offends them with a slight word, they become angry, and their hands are quick to deal damaging blows... How is it possible to respect, praise, and admire a person involved in public needs like this? Since this person hasn't labored over refining their character... Indeed, he is admired and praised regarding the praise and admiration granted to a valuable object, but a wise person celebrating his intellect, this is the reward for the wise who labored in controlling the soul over the natural inclinations."

6. What is Trust in the Creator? The 'Chazon Ish' defines the commandment of trust this way: "The matter of trust is the belief that nothing is coincidental in the world, and everything under the sun is proclaimed by Him blessed be He." (Emunah U'Bitachon, beginning of Chapter 2)

7. The Wondrous Wisdom in Creating the Eye: In Chapter 1 of his book "Emunah U'Bitachon," the 'Chazon Ish' extensively describes the wondrous wisdom in the creation of the world. Regarding the wisdom of the Creator as seen in contemplating the eye, he writes: "How much wisdom there is in the eye, the eye does not tire of seeing and the ear of hearing, generation after generation, scholars add to know and understand the hidden wisdom of the eye's creation, yet they have not reached its ultimate purpose."

8. Marvels of the Human Body: The 'Chazon Ish' further details the marvels of the human body: "Before us is a sight that shakes every wise heart, in the structure of the human body to accept food, digest it, and chemically separate it into different foundations and distribute each to its rightful place... The judgment of the stomach, liver, and bile, spleen and kidneys, intestines and bladder, heart and brain, each organ has special functions, and all work side by side with astonishing quickness until they refine the blood layer upon layer, placing it in its form, adequate in red and white as required to maintain the machine called 'human', directing the sugar dose precisely, and other measured matters of measurement, and the human, foolish at heart, does not know about his diligent host guarding him tirelessly for his survival in the land of the living."

9. Unique Sensitivity to Others' Feelings: The 'Chazon Ish' refers to the personality of a person with good traits: "There is a person who desires to do good to others, meeting a friend brings him joy, greeting them with a pleasant demeanor, worrying if he has not met their target according to the friend's spirit, perhaps he spoke poorly, for there is no greater heartache for him than hurting a friend's dignity or lacking in kindness, and he is never offended by his friend because his love-filled heart covers all offenses, he is prepared in advance to receive life wounds and reprimands with genuine love, knowing most people lack noble traits, what can one demand from them, yet his heart holds them in honor and esteem." The 'Chazon Ish' continues: "And there are no negative thoughts in his heart of dishonoring others... To be a complete and outright benefactor to his brothers, even if his brothers' sins are as heavy as a cart rope."

10. Who Has No Sadness in the World? The Chazon Ish and his wife had no children. Additionally, the Chazon Ish suffered from many ailments, living in continuous discomfort. Despite this, his famous saying is, "There is no sadness in the world for those who know the light of truth."

Further Reading

10 Facts about the Chazon Ish.

The Chazon Ish's response to a troubled young girl seeking a path to repentance for many sins.

An Emotional Story of the Chazon Ish, who was a father to orphans.

How does one merit that Torah adheres to them? The Chazon Ish's surprising advice.

With eloquence, the Chazon Ish explains what prayer is.

How does a Jew buy shoes? The Chazon Ish explains.

Personal Story: What I learned from a week spent together with the Chazon Ish.