Thousands of Bnei Brak residents led by roshei
yeshivos, rabbonim and dayonim, as well as thousands of
students at Shaarei Tzion institutions in Eretz Hakodesh,
were on hand on Motzei Shabbos Parshas Vayigash to lay to
rest Rav Yosef Elyashiyov zt"l, founder of Shaarei
Tzion institutions in Eretz Yisroel and abroad, who passed
away at the age of 89.
Yosef Elyashiyov was born in the former Soviet Union to Rav
Tzion Hy"d, who built a home of mesirus nefesh
for Torah and keeping mitzvas until he was killed by the
authorities for his efforts to promote Judaism.
As a child Yosef carried on his father's legacy of mesirus
nefesh for Torah and mitzvas. After marrying he moved
from Samarkand to Tashkent, where the couple raised their
seven children with extraordinary dedication to
Yiddishkeit. Despite the persecution he suffered, he
had his sons study every day in secret with HaRav Yitzchok
Zilber zt"l.
While living in Tashkent he had to spend seven years away
from home — four years in custody on suspicion of
underground religious activity and three years hiding from
the KGB, who had him under surveillance for his activities to
promote Judaism.
In 5731 (1971) he managed to secure an exit visa and left his
home and his family, traveling to Eretz Yisroel with nothing
but the shirt on his back. By paying bribes he was able to
escape and two days after leaving the country KGB agents came
to his home there in order to arrest him. Later in life he
described his amazing deliverance like a personal Yetzias
Mitzrayim.
Though the Jewish Agency and the Absorption Ministry offered
him an apartment in Raanana, he told them, "Eini gar ela
bemokom Torah." Instead he borrowed money and worked hard
in order to settle in Bnei Brak. Eventually his family joined
him and together they built a home of Torah, tzedokoh
and chessed.
From the time of his arrival in Eretz Hakodesh he
worked in the diamond trade and his business dealings
succeeded and grew. When he became prosperous he kept his
pledge that if Hashem brought him success in parnossoh
he would dedicate his money to saving Jews from Bukhara. He
saw this as his life's mission and devoted all of his time
and energy to the cause.
He opened the first Shaarei Tzion institutions in 5740
(1980), naming them after his father. He then started a
kollel with the goal of drawing avreichim from
Bukharan families as well as a school in Kiryat Ono for
Bukharan immigrants. The school later moved to Tel Aviv's
Ezra neighborhood.
His son HaRav Shmuel ylct"a headed the setup of the
various institutions, acting in his father's name. Shaarei
Tzion institutes continued to spring up around the country
everywhere Bukharan Jews were found. Today, 27 years later,
there are kindergartens, schools, yeshivas, seminaries and
kollelim in Kiryat Ono, Tel Aviv, Moshav Yad HaRambam,
Ramle, Or Yehuda, Jerusalem, Tzfas, Bnei Brak, Netanya,
Dimona, Beer Sheva, Ashdod, Sderot and elsewhere. Shaarei
Tzion schools can even be found in Toronto and New York,
along with kollelim in Arizona, Virginia, Miami and
Denver. A total of 4,500 students, from kindergartners to
avreichim, study at Shaarei Tzion institutions. This
tremendous enterprise has succeeded in driving back much of
the spiritual desolation among immigrants who came in the
first waves of Russian aliya.
He set time for Torah study with chavrusas, including
HaRav Moshe Benedict, with whom he learned for many years.
He passed away on Motzei Shabbos Parshas Vayigash following
an illness. The levaya set out on Motzei Shabbos from
Yeshivat Shaarei Tzion on Rechov Ezra in Bnei Brak. Eulogies
were delivered by HaRav Massaud Ben Shimon, HaRav Yechiel
Michel Tabel, HaRav Betzalel Pinchasi, HaRav Moshe Benedict
and the deceased's cherished talmid, R' Boris
Yitzchakov. After the hespeidim the procession went to
Netzivei Yeshivas Ponovezh Cemetery, where he was buried.
Rav Yosef Elyashiyov zt"l is survived by his sons and
daughters, all of whom follow the spiritual legacy he passed
on to them during his lifetime, as well as thousands of
students at Shaarei Tzion institutions, many of whom owe him
their lives in the Torah world.
