He was born in Kosava (now Brest Voblast), the eldest son of Rabbi Shmaryahu Yosef Karelitz, the Rav of Kosova; his mother was Rasha, the daughter of Rabbi Shaul Katzenelbogen.
The Chazon Ish, a noted Hareidi halachic authority who issued key rulings on Jewish agricultural law (mitzvos tlu'os ba'aretz)in the 1930s and 1940s, ruled like the Mabit, holding that produce grown on land in Israel owned by non-Jews has sanctity.
Nissim Karelitz | Avrohom Yeshaya Karelitz | Avrohom Gurwicz |
The character of Reb Avraham-Shaye the Kosover is very closely based on Reb Avraham Yeshaya Karelitz from Kosova, commonly known as the Chazon Ish.