Rabbi Nahum Shainin, Senior Judge and Former Member of the Great Rabbinical Court, Dies

News of the passing of the senior dayan, Rabbi Nahum Shainin zt"l, rabbi of the Hekel Moshe Yitzchak synagogue in Bnei Brak, arrived in the last few hours. One of the veteran students of the Ponevezh Yeshiva, he educated thousands of students and left behind a distinguished Torah legacy. A first look at the fiery figure of Rabbi Nahum Shainin zt"l (Photo: according to Section 27A)

Deep mourning has fallen in the world of Torah and rabbinical law. In the last hour, the sad news was received of the passing of Rabbi Nahum Shainin zt"l, a member of the Great Rabbinical Court, former head of the regional rabbinical court in Tel Aviv and one of the rabbis of Bnei Brak, in his eighties. The late Rabbi Shainin was a highly respected figure in the world of rabbinical jurisprudence, and was known as one of the foremost halachic decisors on complex questions that came before the courts for decades, alongside his work as an educator, head of a kollel and teacher who raised many students.

Rabbi Shainin was born to his father, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Shainin zt"l, the spiritual supervisor of Rechovot Yeshiva, and to his mother, Mrs. Tzipora a"h. In his youth he advanced in Torah study at Or Israel Yeshiva in Petah Tikva, and later at the renowned Ponevezh Yeshiva in Bnei Brak, where he acquired his Torah outlook and became known as one of the sharpest minds in the yeshiva. When he came of age, he married his wife, may she live long, of the Cohen family, and together they built a distinguished home of Torah and reverence for Heaven in Bnei Brak.

For many years he sat in judgment and served with distinction as head of the Tel Aviv Regional Rabbinical Court, where he resolved agunot cases and ruled on complex matters with professionalism and kindness, until 2007. In 2008, he was appointed as a member and judge of the Great Rabbinical Court in Jerusalem. Alongside his demanding judicial work, he taught Torah to the masses in Bnei Brak. He served as head of the "Tov HaTorah" kollel and as rabbi of the "Hekel Moshe Yitzchak" synagogue in the city, where he formed close bonds of affection with the worshippers and members of the community.

Beginning in 2020, he began publishing a weekly Torah pamphlet, "Masa Nachum," in which his Torah insights and halachic rulings in law and Aggadah were widely distributed. From time to time, the essays were compiled into special booklets that were warmly received in Torah institutions. The deceased left behind a blessed line of upright descendants, his sons Rabbi Shimon and Rabbi Avraham, directors of the "Otzar HaYerushalmi Institute." His younger brother is, may he be distinguished for life, Rabbi Yosef Shainin, the Ashkenazi chief rabbi of Ashdod.

The funeral procession will depart today, Thursday, at 3:30 p.m. from his study hall at 16 Baal Shem Tov Street in Bnei Brak, toward the Ponevezh Yeshiva founders' cemetery in the city, where he will be laid to rest. The family will observe shivah at his home at 16 Rashi Street in Bnei Brak. May his soul be bound up in the bond of life.