Passing Of Rav Gedalia Dov Schwartz Of Chicago
It is with great sadness that we report the petirah of Rav Gedalia Dov Schwartz zt”l of Chicago. He was 95 years old.
Rav Schwartz was a renowned talmid and posek who served from 1991 to 2013as the av bais din of the Beth Din of America and the Chicago Rabbinical Council (cRc), as well as the rosh bais din of the National Beth Din of the Rabbinical Council of America (RCA).
Rav Schwartz was born in 1925 and raised in Newark, New Jersey, where he first studied Torah in his teenage years with Rav Yaakov Bentzion Mendelson. He later attended Yeshiva College and Yeshivas Rabbeinu Yitzchok Elchanan, where he received semicha.
Before moving to Chicago in 1987, Rav Schwartz was the rov of the Young Israel of Boro Park for 18 years, having earlier held pulpits in Rhode Island, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
Rav Schwartz dealt with some of the most difficult halachic shailos, including geirus, kiddushin, and more. In 2002, he was the head of a three-dayan panel that examined cases of agunos from the September 11 attacks, using DNA testing of post-mortem remains to verify the death of their husbands and allow them to remarry.
His wife, Rebbetzin Shoshana, nee Poupko, passed away in 2009. In 2010, he married his second wife, Rebbetzin Chana Sarah. He is survived by his two sons, R’ Avraham Yeshaya and R’ Chaim, his daughter, Mrs. Rivka Leah Goldman, and grandchildren.
The levayah will be held tomorrow at 9 a.m. in Chicago. Both the levayah and the kevurah will be held privately due to Covid-19 concerns. Watch the levayah on Zoom HERE.
Shivah contact info:
Rabbi Avraham Yeshaya Schwartz: 786-877-8845
Mrs. Rivka Leah Goldman: 443-326-7311
Mr. Chaim Schwartz: 754-399-6420
Yehi zichro boruch.
