Living Legacy: Rav Yonasan Steif, zt”l

Yehuda Alter

The 9th of Elul marks the yohrtzeit of the great dayan and posek, Rav Yonasan Steif, who served as a pillar of halachah and as a guiding light

‘Der Kleiner Madmid’

Rav Yonasan was born in the hamlet of Kolta, in the Nitra region of Slovakia. His father, Reb Tzvi, was a talmid and musmach of the Ksav Sofer, and from an early age, young Yonasan’s future greatness in Torah was apparent. The young Yonasan stood out in the town for his superhuman hasmodoh, even as a young boy. His parents recognized this, and sent him to the famed Pressburger yeshiva, his father’s alma matter, as a boy of eleven years old. The yeshiva was then under the leadership of the Shevet Sofer, Rav Simcha Bunim Sofer, who would become Rav Yonansan’s rebbi muvhok.

In Pressburg, he earned the moniker der kleiner masmid, on account of his small stature which stood in contrast to his towering spiritual figure. His rebbi, the Shevet Sofer, showered him with adoration and reverence, taking a keen interest in his development, and guiding and mentoring him every step of the way. Even being a young bachur, his rebbi encouraged him to deliver a shiur in Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim before bachurim who were older than he. He also received guidance and love from Rav Dovid Lakenbach, the dayan of Pressburg, who had yet lived in the times of the Chasam Sofer.

He also began to correspond with the gedolim of the time, including Rav Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld of Yerushalayim and Rav Shmuel Weinberger, the rov of Serdaheli who exclaimed that the Torah sharpness and erudition of this young ga’on are only outshone by the kedusha and taharah that emanate from his letters.

In 1922, Rav Yonasan was called to serve as a dayan in the great Hungarian city of Budapest, working under the great Av Beis Din, Rav Koppel Reich. In this capacity, he became one of the greatest authority figures in the Jewish community of Hungary. Despite his many communal obligations, he kept on learning with unrelenting hasmodoh. He also began to commit his many chiddushim to writing during these years. With the passing of the Chief Rabbi of Budapest, Rav Yonasan remained at the help of the spiritual leadership of the city. His fame and stature would only have continued to grow if not for the terrible Churban that began to loom over Hungarian Jewry.

At the Helm of the Viener Kehillah

Khal Adas Yerei’im-Vien in Williamsburg was founded in the year 1941 by a group of refugees at 616 Bedford Aveune, sharing quarters with the legendary Zeirei Agudath Israel. But they were actually a continuation of the Schiffschul in Vienna, which had a very rich history, and clung valiantly to their traditions of Oberlander Jewry.

With the arrival of the great ga’on and tzaddik, they immediately asked him to lead them, and what began with a small kehillah of a few balebatim would soon become a prominent community of hundreds, which has only continued to grow in the ensuing years.

He began by saying shiurim, and steadily began to grow his influence both in his kehillah, as well as beyond its environs. Like his work in prewar Hungary, he involved himself in communal work, especially in the kashrus of mikva’os (to this day, the mikva in Fleischmann’s is known as “Rav Yonasan’s Mikva.” Under his guidance, the Viener kehillah grew into one of the finest and largest in Williamsburg, later spreading out to Boro Park and Monsey.

In Williamsburg, he became a legend. The gedolim referred the most difficult questions to him, and with the growth of his stature, he only seemed to grow humbler. He would walk in the street unaccompanied, blending into the crowds. But those who knew, knew.

Parting with His Most Precious Belongings

As Elul of the year 1958 approached, Rav Yonasan, a yid of 81 years old who had been through so much and had accomplished so much, continued apace with his avodas hakodesh, a beacon of light to all those around him.

On Shabbos mevorchim Elul, he spoke about the need for every Yid to feel the responsibility to bring the geulah, but later felt unwell. On his way out to the hospital, he tearfully parted with his seforim, kissing each one with great love. On the morning of the ninth of Elul, he recited tachnun, with tears, hitting his chest with his fist… as though he was filled with sin, chas v’sholom.

Hours later, his pure neshomoh ascended to the World of Truth, leaving behind a brilliant legacy of Torah writings and avodas haklal, and rare Torah leadership in old Williamsburg.