But in the world of Dayanism: Rabbi Chaim Gedaliah Zimbalist zt"l passes away at the age of 92

July 7, 2022   

But in the world of jurisprudence: The Dayan Gaon Rabbi Chaim Gedalia Zimbalist, Av Beit Din of Tel Aviv, passed away today (Thursday) at the age of 92. The deceased was born in Minsk in Iyar 1750 to his father, Rabbi Mordechai Sender, son of Rabbi Yehoshua Hordner. As a child, he grew up on his grandfather's lap. After the family members immigrated to the Holy Land in 1936, they settled in the Nathan houses in Jerusalem. As a young man, he entered the Hebron Yeshiva in the Geula neighborhood, where he studied in a rabbinical society with the Gaon Rabbi Noach Shemanovitz, and with the author of Chazon Yehezkel, Maran HaGari Abramovsky. As a young man, he won the Ministry of Religious Affairs Award, which was given in 1972 to the 18 most distinguished yeshiva scholars. When he reached his peak, he married his wife, Rebbetzin Vera, daughter of the Gaon Rabbi Yaakov Meir Pomerantz, zt"l, who was a rabbi in Brock and the United States, and a student of the Chofetz Chaim. After his marriage, he studied at the "Harry Fishel Institute" kollel at the Beit Midrash for Dayanim, and studied with Maran HaGri"sh Elyashiv, zt"l, who was then a dayan in the Great Rabbinical Court, and with the Dayan Gaon Rabbi Menachem Meir Zioni, zt"l, abbot of the Tel Aviv Beit Din. In the 1960s, he lived in the United States, where his father-in-law lived. Upon his return to Israel in 1966, he was appointed as a dayan in the Ashdod Rabbinical Court and later in Tel Aviv, and in the mid-1970s he was appointed as the abbot of the court. He was one of the heads of the 'Shevet Mi'Yehuda' Rabbinical Court in Tel Aviv. From 1977 to 1979, he was a dayan in the Great Rabbinical Court. In 1979, he was appointed by Maran HaGrish Elyashiv as the main arbitrator in the control case in the Ponevezh Yeshiva. He compiled and published the Rashba's works "Torat HaBayit" and "Avodat Hakodesh" with notes and commentaries. He also published "Kovets Rishonim" on Tractate Bitza and "Chiddusei Rishonim" on Tractate Chulin. He lived in Tel Aviv. He served as the rabbi of the "Megurim" synagogue in the city center. In addition to the Daf Yomi and Mishnah Berura classes that he taught in his beit midrash, he also taught halakha classes at Yeshiva Ma'ale Eliyahu in the city. His wife, Dr. Vera Zimbalist, may God have mercy on her, was the chief psychologist of the Adolescent Child Psychiatry Unit at Sheba Hospital. She passed away in 2017. Their daughter, Hadassah Rotenberg, is also a psychologist. She lives in the Har Nof neighborhood. The President of the Grand High Court, Rabbi Lau, issued a statement of mourning: "We mourn the passing of the Grand High Court member, the great gaon, Rabbi Chaim Gedalia Zimbalist, zt"l. Someone who served for decades as a judge in Israel and was a beacon of light in his rulings, laws, and practices is a great loss.".