It is with deep regret that we share the petirah of HaRav Yitzchak Abadi zt”l, a towering posek and marbitz Torah from Lakewood’s early years.

Rav Abadi zt”l was born on March 12, 1933, in Venezuela. When he was just two years old, his family moved to Teverya in what was then Mandatory Palestine. From a young age, it was clear that he was destined for gadlus baTorah. He attended school in Haifa, and his early Torah development took place in the Yishuv HaChadash in Tel Aviv, before continuing his learning at Yeshivat Chevron in Yerushalayim, where he absorbed the derech of deep iyun and yiras Shamayim that would define his life.

At the young age of 19, Rav Abadi’s extraordinary potential was recognized by the Chazon Ish zt”l, who personally sent him to Montreux, Switzerland, to continue his growth in Torah. One year later, the Chazon Ish sent him onward to Lakewood, New Jersey, to learn under the Rav Aharon Kotler zt”l, placing him at the very heart of the postwar rebuilding of Torah in America.

Under Rav Aharon Kotler, Rav Abadi zt”l developed into a formidable talmid chacham and halachic authority. Following Rav Aharon’s petirah, Rav Abadi emerged as one of the leading poskim of the Lakewood kehilla.

In 1980, Rav Abadi branched out on his own and founded a premier halacha kollel in Lakewood, dedicated to training elite talmidei chachamim in practical psak. The kollel quickly gained renown for its seriousness, depth, and emphasis on producing dayanim and rabbanim capable of addressing real-world halachic challenges.

In 1993, Rav Abadi transferred the kollel to Har Nof, Yerushalayim, where it continued to flourish and to produce talmidei chachamim who went on to serve as rabbanim and poskim across the globe.

The levaya is scheduled to take place at 11 AM Tuesday morning at the Sons of Israel Holocaust Memorial Chapel in Lakewood, 613 Ramsey Avenue. Kevurah will take place in Eretz Yisroel.

Baruch Dayan Ha’Emes.

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