Rabbi Moshe Ehrenreich, a leading Religious Zionist scholar and religious judge, died on Sunday at the age of 78.
Born in Hungary in 1946, after immigrating to Israel Ehrenreich was educated at Tel Aviv’s Yeshivah HaYishuv HaChadash, a Tel Aviv high school with combined religious and secular studies, followed by studies at Yeshivat Kerem B’Yavneh, where he subsequently taught for some 20 years.
The Eretz Hemdah Kollel, which he headed until his death, eulogized Ehrenreich: “The angels triumphed over the righteous [Ketubot 1:8]. Woe to us because we were orphans, woe to the ship that has lost its captain. The giant of the Torah and a teacher of its ways, Rabbi Moshe Ehrenreich, has been summoned to attend the heavenly yeshivah.”
The Eretz Hemdah Kollel, founded by Rabbi Shaul Yisraeli (1909-1995), is considered one of the most prominent frameworks for the study of halacha (Jewish law) in the Israeli Religious Zionist community.
In addition to his position at the Eretz Hemdah Kollel, Ehrenreich also served as a judge on the conversion court of the Israeli Chief Rabbinate, as well as a lecturer at Nishmat, an institution of higher Torah learning for women in Jerusalem.
In previous remarks cited by Israel National News, Ehrenreich stressed the importance of serving in Israel’s army as a religious commandment: “Participating in the sorrow of and being in partnership with the whole of Israel is a central pillar in the jurisprudence of Halacha. Rabbi Yisraeli believed that military service is not a matter of mere recommendation, but part of the path of becoming a complete scholar in a Jewish state.”
The rabbi served in the Israel Defense Forces, fighting in the 1972 Yom Kippur War, and advocated for the integration of the Torah, the Jewish state and its military throughout his lifetime.
