[6] The Steipler was born in Hornostaypil, Ukraine to Rabbi Chaim Peretz Kanievsky, a Chernobyl Chassid and the local shochet, and the latter's second wife Bracha.

In later years, Kanievsky remarked that the satisfaction he had enjoyed for making a stand for his religious convictions was an achievement never again equaled for the rest of his life; earlier, he had insisted on wearing a summer uniform in winter, since there was a problem of shatnez.

He decided to move to Białystok in Poland, in order to continue learning Torah unhindered from Communist interference.

This was received with great acclaim, and the work eventually reached Rabbi Avraham Yeshayahu Karelitz (known as the Chazon Ish) in Vilna.

Though known as a world-class scholar, he shunned publicity, and lived in humble surroundings, teaching, writing, and devoting himself to Torah and good deeds.

The Steipler was high-level hearing-impaired, and therefore, those who turned to him would write their question or request, and he would reply and bless them after reading the script.

The Steipler believed the Yom Kippur War was intentionally started as a means of Herut gaining political popularity.

The Steipler wrote many works, his magnum opus being the multi-volume Kehillos Yaakov ("assembly of Jacob"), containing his unique analysis of most of the tractates and concepts of the Talmud; one volume he composed while in the army.

Rabbi Kanievsky's Eitsot V'Hadrachot contains "letters to an American psychologist, Dr. Yaakov Greenwald, in which The Steipler advises him on psychological problems".