Rabbi Dr. Yeshayahu Rotter was niftar in Haifa during the night at the age of 59. He was best known as the force behind the popular Rotter.net website which has become internationally known for its real time news bulletins and forums.

EMS was summoned to the rabbi’s home shortly after midnight after he collapsed into cardiac arrest but resuscitation efforts were not successful.

The niftar was born in Haifa and attended Ponevezh and Chevron Yeshivos and received his smicha from HaGaon HaRav Moshe Feinstein ZT”L.

After serving as an IDF officer, he completed his doctorate in Jewish Philosophy Boston University. He was mora d’asra of the N’vei Sha’anan neighborhood of Haifa as well as a rebbe in the Yavne High School.

The website was launched in 1997 by his son Noam, quite ahead of its time. He was a frequent contributor to the site under his pen name Nitzan Ohr.

Chareidi news sites reporting on his petira explain how he was viewed by many as the ‘Admor of the Chilonim’, keeping a channel of communications open with anyone and everyone, a worldly man who had a kind word for all.

The levaya began at noon at the Sheirit Yisrael Shul in Haifa.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)