Rav Moshe Stern, the Debrecener Rav, focused on kavod Shamayim while soothing postwar survivors and struggling Yidden. Twenty years after his passing, he’s still the rebbi of a generation.
EVERYONE’S REBBE The Debrecener Rav wasn’t only the rav of his kehillah; he became the posek for every Yid in Boro Park and beyond. His magnetic personality attracted people from all sectors — from Oberlanders to Litvish from chassidish to American-born. (Photos: Family Archives)
I n the late 90s when I attended high school in Boro Park thousands of miles from my home in Vienna I spent a lot of time with my newly married brother and sister-in-law who lived on 1514 49th Street in the apartment situated right above the home of her grandfather Rav Moshe Stern ztz”l — the Debrecener Rav.
The first time I entered the young couple’s newly renovated home I discovered a door off their dining room that seemed to lead to nowhere. Gingerly opening it I felt like I’d been thrown back to der alter heim. Before me were three rooms of bare wooden floors lined wall to wall with raw wooden bookshelves heaving with the innumerable seforim that filled it. I soon learned that these rooms were only a fragment of the Debrecener Rav’s library.
I would regularly go downstairs to sit with die Bubbe — the choshuve Debrecener Rebbetzin — a gentle and caring woman. Of course I was careful never to walk into the Rav’s study or disturb him in any way yet I often managed to catch a glimpse of him — a man tall in stature as he was in his gadlus haTorah whose piercing glance and gentle demeanor left an indelible impression.
Create a free account to keep reading.
