Rabbi Moshe Stern (1914 – August 5, 1997), universally revered as the Debreciner Rav (the Rabbi of Debrecen), was one of the most prominent halachic authorities (poskim) of the post-World War II era.

He was a master of the classical Hungarian rabbinic tradition, famed for his encyclopedic knowledge of Jewish law and his courage in navigating the complex legal realities of the modern world. His monumental multi-volume book of responsa, Be'er Moshe, remains a vital and authoritative reference in study halls today.

Early Life and Chasam Sofer Lineage

• A Scholarly Household: Born in Nové Zámky (Neuhaisel), Slovakia, on Hoshana Rabbah, he grew up in a family of profound scholarship. His father, Rabbi Avraham Stern (author of Gapei Eish and Melitzei Eish), was a renowned rabbi and historian.

• Elite Training: After studying closely under his father and grandfather, he traveled to the famed Pressburg Yeshiva to study under Rabbi Akiva Sofer (the Daas Sofer), a great-grandson of the Chasam Sofer.

• The Debrecen Appointment: He married the daughter of Rabbi Mordechai Nissan HaKohen Strasser, a direct descendant of the Chasam Sofer. Following his marriage, he moved to Debrecen, Hungary’s second-largest city, where he was appointed a Dayan (rabbinic judge) and communal legal authority.

Surviving the Holocaust and Post-War Leadership

The horrors of World War II devastated the Hungarian Jewish community. Rabbi Stern endured the unimaginable and successfully survived the horrors of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. Tragically, many members of his extended family, including his father, were murdered.

• Rebuilding Debrecen: Following the liberation, he returned to Debrecen, where nearly half of the pre-war Jewish population gathered to seek out survivors. Rabbi Stern immediately stepped up to restructure the community, establish kosher infrastructure, and handle the heavy communal tasks of a broken populace.

• The Budapest Yeshiva: Recognizing that the younger survivors needed a place to heal and learn, he partnered with the Erlau Rebbe (Rabbi Yochanan Sofer) to establish a yeshiva in Budapest to rejuvenate Torah life in Hungary.

The Move to America: Kahal Yesodei HaTorah

As communism clamped down on Hungary, Jewish life became increasingly difficult. In 1950, Rabbi Stern briefly accepted a rabbinic pulpit in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

A year later, he immigrated to New York, settling in Brooklyn. There, he established Kahal Yesodei HaTorah, a synagogue and community composed primarily of Hungarian Holocaust survivors. For decades, his modest synagogue in Borough Park served as an international nerve center for halachic inquiry.

Halachic Legacy: Be'er Moshe

The Debreciner Rav was a posek in the truest sense—rabbis from all over the globe wrote to him with their most complicated legal questions. His answers were published in his masterful, multi-volume responsa series, Sefer Be'er Moshe.

He was uniquely gifted at applying immutable Torah principles to contemporary technological innovations:

• The Halachic Approach to Electricity: He wrote an extensive, highly acclaimed treatise titled Kunterus Ha'Electric, analyzing modern electronics through the lens of Sabbath law. He ruled on the permissibility of setting up security alarms before Shabbat, using hearing aids, and the validity of testimonies given over a telephone.

• The Shaving Controversy: He was a vocal halachic opponent of the rising popularity of electric shavers among Orthodox men, penning extensive arguments concluding that modern shavers utilize a scissor-like action that frequently borders on the biblical prohibition of using a razor on the beard.

• Medical Ethics: He was widely consulted by doctors and families on modern medical dilemmas, navigating complex areas regarding end-of-life care, surgeries on the Sabbath, and modern fertility treatments with a delicate balance of strict legal integrity and deep human empathy.

Passing and Continuation

The Debreciner Rav passed away on the 2nd of Av (August 5, 1997) at the age of 83. He was laid to rest in the Debrecen section of the Beth Israel Cemetery in Woodbridge, New Jersey.

His legacy as an uncompromising guardian of Central European halachic methodology continues to be felt across mainstream Orthodoxy. Following his passing, his son, Rabbi Shlomo Stern, assumed the mantle as the next Debreciner Rav, continuing to maintain the community and institutions his father painstakingly built from the ashes of Europe.