The Imminent Coming of Moshiach // A visit with Rav Moshe Sternbuch

He currently serves as the gaavad of the Eidah Hachareidis.
Throughout his life, he recalled the brachah that his rebbe, Rav Moshe Schneider, the rosh yeshivah of Toras Emes in Memel, Frankfurt and London, had given him in his youth: that one day he would become a rosh yeshivah. As he approached his 90th birthday, he expressed confidence that this brachah would be fulfilled—and indeed, he went on to establish his own yeshivah in Beit Shemesh in 2013. Even now, at the advanced age of 98, bli ayin hara, he still travels there once a week to give an in-depth shiur klali.
Of late, a highly publicized occurrence has increased his popular appeal. Rav Sternbuch served as the mesader kiddushin at the second marriage of Rav Tzvi Kushelevsky, the rosh yeshivah of Heichal Torah. On that occasion, he gave him a brachah for a son after many decades of childlessness. Remarkably, a year after this brachah, the 88-year-old Rav Kushelevsky welcomed a baby boy.
In the weeks and months before last year’s tragic carnage on Simchas Torah, Rav Sternbuch was expressing his concern about the possibility of the occurrence of terrible events, saying that we had no idea how serious the situation was. He would talk about this even at family simchos. On one occasion, he said that if we knew what we were destined to endure, we would go meshuga.
Last Rosh Hashanah, Rav Sternbuch warned that the year 5784 required special vigilance, as it could bring severe judgment upon the Jewish people. He explained that his warning was based on the words of the Aroch Laneir, who wrote that a year without the sounding of the shofar at its beginning could end in calamity. In other words, when Rosh Hashanah falls on Shabbos and the shofar isn’t blown, it creates the possibility of a harsh gezeirah against klal Yisrael.
In fact, the greatest calamities in our history, including the destruction of the First and Second Beis Hamikdash, occurred in years when Rosh Hashanah fell on Shabbos. Such a year can bring either great blessing, or chalilah, tremendous danger. As he explained, it all depends on whether we observe Shabbos properly. If we do, we will be blessed with a good year; if not, we forfeit the protection of Shabbos.
As the days passed, Rav Sternbuch repeatedly cautioned his visitors and family about the looming threat. His drashos increasingly took on a prophetic tone, speaking of difficult times ahead. When someone suggested that his warnings were frightening people, Rav Sternbuch replied, “Aderaba, they should do teshuvah.”
These sentiments were powerfully expressed in Rav Sternbuch’s remarkable drashah to his talmidim in Beit Shemesh during Sukkos. Unexpectedly, he began to speak about how to conduct oneself on Simchas Torah during times of tragedy:
“During the Holocaust,” he said, “just before Simchas Torah, we received horrifying news of the massacres in Europe. We heard about Jews being sent to crematoria and gas chambers. The yeshivah bachurim, concerned about their relatives’ fates, wept bitterly. They approached the rosh yeshivah, Rav Moshe Schneider, and said that they couldn’t dance. But Rav Schneider replied, ‘Hitler may kill us, but he cannot uproot even a single minhag Yisrael. We will sing and dance as usual.’ He assured them that with Hashem’s help, everyone will one day see that it’s impossible for man to comprehend Hashem’s ways.”
Rav Sternbuch then addressed the bachurim directly: “We don’t know what our future holds. We are in difficult circumstances and must daven to Hakadosh Baruch Hu to save us in the zechus of our total separation from the resha’im. May Hashem help us persevere, and may true simchah come speedily in our days.”