funeral of Rabbi Mordechai Sternberg
funeral of Rabbi Mordechai SternbergOlivier Fitoussi/FLASH90

A granddaughter was born to Rabbi Mordechai Sternberg, the dean of the Har Hamor Yeshiva, who passed away yesterday at the age of 74, on the day of his funeral Tuesday.

The child was born to Ephraim and Emuna Shachor, Rabbi's Sternberg's son-in-law and daughter.

During the funeral, Rabbi Avichai Sternberg, son of Rabbi Mordechai Sternberg, gave a eulogy: "There is no substitute for a father. We were lucky to have a father and more than that - we are lucky to have a father. He was a father who was so present in the lives of his children, a grandfather who was present in the lives of his grandchildren - and that presence was not only expressed in the practical contexts - but in a personality that was present and found in each of the children and grandchildren. We were part of our father - and he is present in us. Father was so great and yet so humble. The renewal of the Torah of the Land of Israel was embodied and fulfilled in him."

Israel's chief rabbi, Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef, was the first to eulogize Rabbi Sternberg: "When a great man passes away, there are two things that happen: the public has lost a leader, and the Shekina [presence of G-d] experiences sorrow."

"Although he was great in Torah and was knowledgeable in all of the Talmud," Rabbi Yosef said, he "did not only care about himself."

"The rabbi gave his soul to the yeshiva and cared not only for it, but for the entire Jewish people. He cared that there would be conversion according to the Halakha, that there would be kashrut according to the Halakha and he spoke about all these things with warmth and enthusiasm. He cared about the people of Israel and this was ingrained in him," said Rabbi Yosef.