The condition of 101-year-old Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv is deteriorating, and his spokesman told Arutz Sheva, “He needs mercy from HaShem.”

Medical tests last Thursday at Shaarei Tzedek Hospital in Jerusalem revealed that the Torah sage has water in his lungs and that his heart is working only at 20 percent capacity.

“Every day that there is no failure in his body systems is considered a miracle,” sources told Arutz Sheva. Doctors decided there was no reason for him to be hospitalized and that it would best for him to remain at home, where he is receiving medicine and medical care.

Shlomo Kook, spokesman for the rabbi, said that rumors of kidney problems and a general failure in his body are totally untrue.

Last week, Rabbi Elyashiv was able to leave home and attend brit milah (circumcision) ceremony and served as the sandak, the person who holds the baby during the circumcision, after which he underwent routine medical tests at the hospital and was determined to be in serious condition.

The 101-year-old rabbi, who heads the worldwide Lithuanian yeshiva movement, is considered the community’s leading Torah sage of this generation.

Readers are asked to pray for the health of HaRav Yosef Shalom ben Mousha.