Former Jerusalem chief rabbi Aryeh Stern has died at age 81.
Stern, a leading figure in the Religious Zionist community, was a close student of one of its founding figures, Rabbi Zvi Yehuda Kook, and later taught in some of the movement’s flagship religious institutions, including Yeshivat Merkaz Harav in Jerusalem.
Stern served in the army and fought in both the Six Day War in 1967 and the Yom Kippur War in 1973, according to Hebrew media reports.
In 2014, he was appointed Ashkenazi chief rabbi of Jerusalem and remained in the position until 2019.
“Jerusalem was blessed to have Rabbi Aryeh Stern, of blessed righteous memory, and absorbed from his great Torah scholarship and his noble character,” Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion says in a statement. “During his years serving as the city’s rabbi, Rabbi Aryeh Stern led Jerusalem through his conduct, humility and halachic [Jewish law] rulings, leaving a deep impact on the spiritual life of the capital.”
Help us report truthfully on social media
As a multimedia journalist, my job is to take the quality, fact-based journalism produced by The Times of Israel newsroom and make it accessible across every platform — from Instagram posts to podcasts to short-form videos.
This is how many, especially young people, consume news these days. But misinformation is rampant on social media. Our team at ToI produces accurate, responsible short-form reporting on Israel and the Jewish world.
If you believe in the importance of factual social media journalism, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. Your financial support is essential to sustain responsible multimedia reporting.
— Gabriella Jacobs, multimedia journalist
Support our work
Support our work
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
You're a dedicated reader
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
That’s why we started the Times of Israel - to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you,
David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel
Join Our Community
Join Our Community
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
From the Liveblog of
Thursday, May 7, 2026
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on Google
