Rabbi Ephraim Greenblatt, Rabbi in Memphis,'Rivevos Ephraim'

Harav Ephraim Greenblatt was born in Sivan 5692/1932 in Yerushalayim to his father, Harav Avraham Baruch Greenblatt, known to the Gedolim of Yerushalayim at that time as the “Masmid from Brisk”; the son of the well-known darshan from Brisk, Harav Yitzchak Greenblatt, zt”l. Reb Ephraim’s mother was the daughter of Reb Chanoch Birenstock of Lodz.

As a child, he attended Talmud Torah Yavneh, and later yeshivah ketanah Mekor Chaim, where he studied under Harav Avraham Dovid Levin and Harav Tikochinsky, zt”l. He then attended Yeshivas Tiferes Tzvi under Harav Tzvi Yehudah Meltzer, the son of Harav Isser Zalman Meltzer, zt”l, and Yeshivas Kletzk in Rechovot, under Harav Elazar Shach, zt”l, and Harav Zevulun Graz, zt”l, the Av Beis Din of Rechovot.

After learning for a short time in the Mir in Yerushalayim, Reb Ephraim was summoned by his grandfather, Reb Yitzchak, the darshan of Brisk, to come to the United States to help him and to serve as a Rav there. Harav Aharon Kotler, zt”l, arranged the legal papers and visa.

At the age of 19, he began serving as a Rav in a shul in New York. Concurrently, he began learning in Mesivtha Tiferes Jerusalem, headed by Harav Moshe Feinstein, zt”l, who became Reb Ephraim’s rebbi muvhak.

One day in 5712/1952, Reb Moshe told Reb Ephraim that he wanted him to travel to Memphis, Tennessee. He’d received a phone call from a Jew who lived there asking Reb Moshe to send a bachur to shore up the community there. “For some reason, Reb Moshe felt I was suited for the task. He suggested I travel there to visit the place and meet the community, and then I could decide if the job was for me or not.”

After traveling over 30 hours by train, Rav Greenblatt discovered that there were only two other Shomrei Shabbos in Memphis. He promptly returned to N.Y. When Rav Greenblatt told Reb Moshe that Memphis was a desolate place, Reb Moshe told him he’d sent him there to infuse the Jews with Yiddishkeit and help the community grow and sent him back. Memphis was where Rav Greenblatt remained for the next half a century.

A few years after his arrival in America, Reb Ephraim married Mirel, nee Moskowitz, a”h.

Over the years, he maintained close contact with Reb Moshe, who guided him every step of the way on communal matters. Reb Ephraim would consult Reb Moshe in all areas of halachah, via long, detailed correspondence, to iron out details of the halachos.

While in Memphis, Reb Ephraim published his renowned sefer Rivevos Ephraim, which includes nine volumes of she’eilos and teshuvos; there is one volume that never saw publication.

The sefarim are a compilation of thousands of responsa to questions that he received from Rabbanim all over the U.S., as well as teshuvos to questions that he sent to Reb Moshe.

He also published two volumes of Rivevos Ephraim al HaTorah. Harav Greenblatt authored hundreds of custom essays and responsa that were printed in Torah journals.

While in Memphis, Harav Greenblatt was called upon by Rabbanim from all over the country for assistance.

He was frequently offered positions in larger cities, but he always refused. “If I am doing my job here, what will a different position somewhere else give me? More kavod? More money? That’s not the objective of rabbanus,” he would say.

In 5762/2002, Rebbetzin Greenblatt was killed in a car accident. In Elul of 5769/2009, he left Memphis and returned to Eretz Yisrael, after over 50 years. He settled in Har Nof, Yerushalayim, where he continued learning and disseminating Torah. (Source: Hamodia. See also YWN).

הרב אפרים גרינבלט (תרצ"ב, 1932 - ב' בשבט תשע"ד, 3 בינואר 2014) היה פוסק הלכה בארצות הברית, ובסוף ימיו בירושלים. מפורסם בשל תשובותיו הרבות.

נולד בירושלים לרב אברהם ברוך ועליזה לבית בירנשטוק, כבן בכור למשפחה בת אחד עשר ילדים. המשפחה התגוררה בשכונת כרם. למד בישיבת קלצק ברחובות אצל הרב שך והושפע ממנו רבות. בצעירותו היגר לארצות הברית, במצוות סבו הרב יצחק גרינבלט, כדי לכהן ברבנות ולפרנס את משפחתו. במקביל למד בישיבת תפארת ירושלים בניו יורק אצל הרב משה פיינשטיין. בשנת תשי"ב (1952) נשלח על ידי הרב פיינשטיין להיות רב בממפיס כדי לחזק שם את היהדות. הוא שימש שם קרוב ל-60 שנה כרב המקום, אב בית דין, ראש ישיבה, ראש כולל, מחנך, שוחט ומוהל.

ספרו העיקרי הוא שו"ת רבבות אפרים (על פי הפסוק: "והם רבבות אפרים", דברים ל"ג), בן תשעה כרכים ובו אלפי תשובות לשאלות מכל העולם. ספרים נוספים מפרי עטו: רבבות אפרים על התורה (שני כרכים, הערות על המקרא), רבבות ויובלות (שני כרכים, בשיתוף עם הרב יובל נוף, אב"ד בממפיס) על הלכות דעות ונושאים נוספים. כמו כן מאות ממאמריו פזורים בבטאונים וקבצים תורניים שונים.

אשתו, מרים, נספתה בתאונת דרכים בשנת תשס"ב (2002). בשנותיו האחרונות עלה לישראל, והתגורר אצל בתו בשכונת הר נוף בירושלים. (מקור)