R’ Moshe Shternbuch

I’ve personally heard this from at least four independent sources.

If someone can get more info about string ratio, tying method, and a picture, that would greatly help. -Rafi Hecht

From Yehoshua Yankelewitz:

“My friend Refoel Holiday (originally from Monsey, he learned in Zilberman’s in the OC for a while) was with his Rosh Kollel Rabbi Travis by Rav Shternbuch.

When Rabbi Travis asked R’ M. Shternbuch about Techeiles he said:
“אני לובש לפעמים ”
But would not elaborate how often or rarely.”

Rabbi Yisroel Barkin mentioned that one of R’ Shternbuch’s grandson’s wrote against Techeiles, and R’ Shternbuch signed off on it without doing the proper research. Now that he has done the research, he since then obtained a few Tallis Kottons and will wear them from time to time, but it’s not an everyday occurrence.

To quote R’ Avrohom Gross on tying and string ratio from an email: “He originally had Tosfos, but switched to Raavad because of the Gra in nistar, and he is a follower of the Gra (his shul is named after the Gra).”

From R’ Yechezkel Toporovitch:

בס”ד
אני עצמי סיפקתי להגאון ר’ משה שטרנבוך שליט”א פתילי תכלת עבור טלית קטן על ידי הבעל תוקע שלו הרב מיכאל לוי שליט”א וכן על ידי הבן של הראב”ד הרה”ג ר’ חיים עוזר שליט”א
למיטב ידיעתי הוא לובש מידי פעם שמעתי שיש תקופות שהוא לובש כל יום לפני התפילה
כמו כן שמעתי מבנו הגר”חע שאביו הראב”ד שליט”א אמר לו שאפשר לפרסם בשמו שהוא כבר לא נגד כמו שהיה פעם
לגבי שיטות מספר החוטים הנה בתחילה סבר לעשות כהתוס’ וכך גם שלחתי לו אח”כ אחרי שעיין בזה שוב החליף לשיטת הראב”ד
לגבי פרסום הדבר שיש אצלו ציצית עם תכלת ושהוא לובש מידי פעם, אפשר לשאול את בנו הנ”ל אם אפשר לפרסם
בכל הכבוד הראוי
יחזקאל משה הלוי טופורוביץ
פעיה”ק ירושלים תובב”א

From Wikipedia:

Moshe Sternbuch (or Moishe / Moses Shternbuch, Hebrew: משה שטרנבוך) is a Haredi rabbi. He serves as the Ra’avad (Chief) of the Edah HaChareidis, vice-president of the Rabbinical Court in Jerusalem, and the rabbi of the Gra Synagogue in the Har Nof neighbourhood.

Early life

Moshe Sternbuch was born on 15 February 1926 (24 Shevat) in London, one of 9 children of Osher Sternbuch, an Orthodox Jewish merchant, and Devorah. His parents hosted numerous rabbis who came to London to raise money for their yeshivas, among them Elchonon Wasserman, who after learning with Sternbuch declared that he was a davar sheyeish bo mamash (a boy of substance). He was tested in learning every Shabbat by Yechezkel Abramsky, who predicted he would one day become a moreh hora’ah (posek). Before long he was known as the Londoner Illui (prodigy).[1] Osher died in 1939 at the age of 39, leaving behind his eldest child of 18 years, the 10-year-old Sternbuch, and the youngest only two. In 1940, he entered the Toras Emes yeshiva in Stamford Hill, of which Moshe Schneider was the rosh yeshiva, where he would remain for ten years.[2] He studied there with Bezalel Rakow, who was later to become the Gateshead Rov,[3] Yitzchok Tuvia Weiss, his future colleague in the Edah HaChareidis, and future Olympia and York businessman Paul Reichmann.[4]

“On the day of your becoming a gadol, our blessing is that you should grow and succeed to be a true gadol in Torah and fear of Heaven, as well as a source of pride to your glorious family. Please accept our good wishes and this gift that is given with love. And when you are older and your name will become ‘known in Yehudah,’ you will remember us whenever you learn this sefer.”

-Inscription inside volume of Noda Biyhudah presented to Sternbuch by Eliyahu Eliezer Dessler upon his Bar Mitzvah[5] Sternbuch’s family fled London during World War II due to The Blitz. They moved to a small nearby village where he shared a room with Eliyahu Eliezer Dessler, author of Michtav me-Eliyahu, who predicted that Sternbuch would someday be one of the gedolei hador (greatest of the generation).[5]

Due to the increasing threat of a Nazi invasion of Britain, Sternbuch’s mother made attempts to arrange his safe passage to Canada or the United States. She asked Elyah Lopian, a rosh yeshiva from the East End of London, for advice on whether or not to allow her son to board what was to be the last passenger ship sailing for America till the war’s end. Lopian offered to perform a goral haGra to divine the move’s possibility for success, but as he was unable to accompany the solemn ceremony that day with the required fasting, the ship departed without Sternbuch, only to sink with 300 children aboard.[5]

Rabbinic career

After the war, Sternbuch decided to travel to the Land of Israel via France and Italy to study the Torah as taught in the Brisk yeshiva. He enrolled in the Hebron Yeshiva, simultaneously cultivating relationships with leading rabbis Yitzchok Zev Soloveitchik (in 1952), Avrohom Yeshaya Karelitz (the Chazon Ish) and Dov Berish Weidenfeld, all of whom he used to meet with regularly in their homes.[6]

After their marriage in 1954, the Sternbuchs moved to an apartment in Jerusalem next to Soloveitchik. The young Sternbuch was appointed rosh yeshiva of Yeshivas Hamasmidim there. In 1960, after Soloveitchik’s death, they moved to Bnei Brak, where they were to reside for the next 20 years. Yechezkel Abramsky urged Sternbuch to devote himself to strengthening Torah study in Rosh HaAyin, a nearby town with a substantial Yemenite Jewish immigrant population. Foregoing an opportunity to establish an elite kollel in Bnei Brak, he established one in Rosh HaAyin instead. He founded Beit Olot, a home for immigrant Mizrahi girls on the model of Bayit L’Pleitot [he], a similar home for Ashkenazi girls.[7]

In 1980, Sternbuch took up a position in Johannesburg, South Africa. He was very involved in outreach there, including his noted lectures to those in the medical field, leaving a deep impression on many people. When he later moved to Jerusalem, many of these South Africans joined him in his new location in the Har Nof neighbourhood.[8]

Sternbuch currently serves as the Vice-President of the Rabbinical Court[9] and the Ra’avad (Chief) of the Edah HaChareidis in Jerusalem. He resides in the Har Nof neighbourhood, where he is the rabbi of the local Gra Synagogue, named after the Vilna Gaon of whom he is a direct descendant.[1]

Personal life

In 1954, Sternbuch married the daughter of Yaakov Schechter, an acquaintance of the Chazon Ish. Meshulam Dovid Soloveitchik[10] and Chanoch Ehrentreu were his brothers-in-law.[11]

Opinions
Edit
Sternbuch strongly opposes secular Zionism and was against Israel’s establishment. He is of the view that there is no connection between the existence of a Jewish state and the beginning of the redemption of the Jewish People to the Land of Israel which will precede the Messianic Era.

In September 2018, Sternbuch blasted British Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis for publishing an educational pamphlet warning against LGBT bullying in Orthodox schools. Sternbuch viewed this move as advocacy for the LGBT lifestyle.[12]

Published works

Shternbuch, Moshe. Moadim Uzmanim (9 Vol) (in Hebrew). Nesivos HaTorah VeHaChesed. – Commentary on the Jewish holidays
Shternbuch, Moshe. Ta’am VeDaas Al HaTorah (3 Vol) (in Hebrew). Jerusalem, Israel. – Commentary on the Torah
Shternbuch, Moshe (2001). Haggadah Shel Pesach: Ta’am VeDa’as (in Hebrew). Jerusalem, Israel. – Commentary on the Passover haggadah
Shternbuch, Moshe. Teshuvos VeHanhagos (7 Vol) (in Hebrew). – Questions and answers on the Shulchan Aruch
Shternbuch, Moshe. Chochma VeDaas (2 Vol) (in Hebrew).
Shternbuch, Moshe. HaDerech LiTeshuva (in Hebrew).
Shternbuch, Moshe. Birkas HaChamah (in Hebrew).
Shternbuch, Moshe. Erev Pesach SheChal B’Shabbos Ve’Purim Me’shulash (in Hebrew).
Shternbuch, Moshe. Orchos HaBayis (in Hebrew). – Laws of the home
Shternbuch, Moshe. Rav Moshe Speaks.
Shternbuch, Moshe. Commentary on the Shev Shmaytsa (in Hebrew).
Shternbuch, Moshe. Hilchos HaGr”a U’minhagav (in Hebrew). – Laws and customs of the Vilna Gaon
Shternbuch, Moshe (2007). Stam Ke’Hilchasan (in Hebrew). Jerusalem, Israel. – Laws of writing a sefer torah, tefillin, and mezuzah.
Shternbuch, Moshe. A Voice in the Darkness Harav Moshe Sternbuch Speaks on Contemporary Issues (In English). Jerusalem, Israel: Feldheim.] Shternbuch, Moshe. Talks on the Weekly Sedra, Taste and Know (In English). Jerusalem, Israel.] Shternbuch, Moshe. Laws of Jewish Family Life Laws Niddah (In English). Jerusalem, Israel.].

References

Frankfurter 2018, p. 42.
Yated Ne’eman: 1 Archived 2011-05-25 at the Wayback Machine; 2 Archived 2011-05-25 at the Wayback Machine
“Deiah veDibur:The Gateshead Rov”. Archived from the original on 2006-10-28. Retrieved 2008-04-10.
Frankfurter 2018, p. 44.
Frankfurter 2018, p. 46.
Frankfurter 2018, p. 48.
Frankfurter 2018, p. 54.
Frankfurter 2018, p. 56.
Yated Ne’eman: 1 Archived 2006-10-28 at the Wayback Machine, 2 Archived 2007-08-08 at the Wayback Machine, 3 Archived 2007-03-30 at the Wayback Machine, 4 Archived 2011-05-25 at the Wayback Machine, 5 Archived 2011-05-25 at the Wayback Machine
Frankfurter 2018, p. 50.
Folger, Arie (29 November 2022) Dayan Chanoch Ehrentreu (1927-2022), Europe’s Greatest Halachic Authority, Passes Away, The Jewish Press. Accessed 14 June 2023.
“Israeli Charedi Leader Accuses Chief Rabbi Mirvis of ‘Blasphemy’ Over LGBT Guide”. jewishnews.co.uk. 18 September 2018. Retrieved 11 April 2022.

Sources

Frankfurter, Yitzchok (28 March 2018) “From One Generation to Another: A Conversation with the Renowned Posek and Rosh Beis Din of Yerushalayim Rav Moshe Sternbuch”, Ami Magazine. Issue 361, pp. 42-68.