Stav was born in
Jerusalem, the son of Shmuel Dov Stav, a librarian at the Yeshurun synagogue, and Idel (Hadassa), the daughter of Rabbi Gedaliah Moshe Goldman, the Rebbe of
Zvhil. He studied at Yeshivat Bnei Akiva Nativ Meir and later at
Mercaz HaRav Yeshiva, under Rabbi
Avraham Shapira, whom he views as his rabbi. He was ordained as a religious judge at the
kollel in
Psagot. He enlisted in the IDF through the
Hesder Mercaz program and served for eight months in the Armored Corps. In 1986 he began to serve as lecturer at the
Or Etzion Yeshiva and as rabbi of the
moshav Bnei Darom. In the years 1992 to 1994 he served as rabbi in the national religious community and yeshiva dean in
Antwerp, Belgium. In 1998 he founded
Yeshivat Hesder Petah Tikva together with Rabbi
Yuval Cherlow. In this period he began to serve as rabbi of
Shoham. In the years 1996-1998 he was the rabbi of the
Ma'aleh School of Television, Film and the Arts. Following the
Rabin assassination, he established the
Tzohar organization, together with Rabbi
Yuval Cherlow, Rabbi Rafi Feuerstein, and other rabbis. Since 2009 he has served as the organization's chairman. Rabbi Stav was ordained by Rabbi Avraham Shapira. He served as a judge at the conversion court of Rabbi
Chaim Druckman and as a judge at the Rabbinical Court in the Tel Aviv district. In 2008 he ran in the elections for the Chief Rabbinate Council, but was not elected. In
2013 he ran for the position of
Chief Rabbi of Israel From 2015 to 2018, he served as co-chair of
Ohr Torah Stone institutes alongside Rabbi
Shlomo Riskin. == Personal life ==