Belarusian-born American Orthodox rabbi
Moshe Feinstein (; Lithuanian pronunciation: "Moishe Fainshtein"; ; March 3, 1895 – March 23, 1986) was a Russian-born American Orthodox Jewish rabbi, scholar, and "posek" (authority on "halakha"—Jewish law). He has been called the most famous Orthodox Jewish legal authority of the twentieth century and his rulings are often referenced in contemporary rabbinic literature. Feinstein served as president of the Union of Orthodox Rabbis, Chairman of the Council of the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah of the Agudath Israel of America, and head of Mesivtha Tifereth Jerusalem in New York.
Feinstein is commonly referred to simply as "Reb Moshe" (or "Rav Moshe").
Biography.
Moshe Feinstein was born, according to the Hebrew calendar, on Adar 7, 5655 in Uzda, near Minsk, Belarus (then part of the Russian Empire). His father, David Feinstein, was the rabbi of Uzda and a great-grandson of the Vilna Gaon's brother. David Feinstein's father, Yechiel Michel Feinstein, was a Koidanover Chassid. His mother was a descendant of talmudist Yom-Tov Lipmann Heller, the Shlah HaKadosh, and Rashi. He studied with his father and in yeshivas located in Slutsk, under Pesach Pruskin, and Shklov. He also had a close relationship with his uncle, Yaakov Kantrowitz, rabbi of Timkovichi, whom he greatly revered and considered his mentor. For the rest of his life, Feinstein considered Pruskin as his rebbe.
Feinstein was appointed rabbi of Lyuban, where he served for sixteen years. He married Shima Kustanovich in 1920 and had four children (Pesach Chaim, Fay Gittel, Shifra, and David) before leaving Europe. Pesach Chaim died in Europe, and another son, Reuven, was born in the United States. Under increasing pressure from the Soviet regime, he moved with his family to New York City in January 1937, where he lived for the rest of his life.
Settling on the Lower East Side, Feinstein became the rosh yeshiva of Mesivtha Tifereth Jerusalem. He later established a branch of the yeshiva in Staten Island, New York, now headed by his son Reuven. His son Dovid headed the Manhattan branch.
Feinstein was president of the Union of Orthodox Rabbis of the United States and Canada, and chaired the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah of Agudath Israel of America from the 1960s until his death. Feinstein also took an active leadership role in Israel's Chinuch Atzmai.
Feinstein was recognized by many as the preeminent halakhic authority ("posek") of his generation; ruling on issues of Jewish law as they pertain to modern times. People from around the world called upon him to answer their most complicated halachic questions.
Halakhic authority.
Owing to his prominence as an adjudicator of Jewish law, Feinstein was often asked to rule on very difficult questions, whereupon he often employed a number of innovative and controversial theories in arriving at his decisions. Soon after arriving in the United States, he established a reputation for handling business and labor disputes, writing about strikes, seniority, and fair competition. He later served as the chief halakhic authority for the Association of Orthodox Jewish Scientists, indicative of his expertise in Jewish medical ethics. In the medical arena, he opposed the early, unsuccessful heart transplants, although it is has been reported off-the-record that in his later years, he allowed a person to receive a heart transplant (after the medical technique of preventing rejection was improved). On such matters, he often consulted with various scientific experts, including his son-in-law Moshe David Tendler, a professor of biology who served as a rosh yeshiva at Yeshiva University.
As one of the prominent leaders of American Orthodoxy, Feinstein issued opinions that clearly distanced his community from Conservative and Reform Judaism. He faced intense opposition from Hasidic Orthodoxy on several controversial decisions, such as rulings on artificial insemination and mechitza. In the case of his position not to prohibit cigarette smoking, though he recommended against it and prohibited second-hand smoke, other Orthodox rabbinic authorities disagreed. Even while disagreeing with specific rulings, his detractors still considered him to be a leading decisor of Jewish law. The first volume of his "Igrot Moshe", a voluminous collection of his halakhic decisions, was published in 1959.
Death.
Feinstein died on March 23, 1986 (13th of Adar II, 5746). Over 20,000 people gathered to hear him eulogized in New York before he was flown to Israel for burial. His funeral in Israel was delayed by a day due to mechanical problems with the plane carrying his coffin, which then had to return to New York. The funeral was said to be attended by between 200,000 and 250,000 people.
Feinstein was buried on Har HaMenuchot near his teacher, Isser Zalman Meltzer.
Prominent students.
Feinstein's students included:
Works.
Feinstein wrote approximately 2,000 responsa on a wide range of issues affecting Jewish practice in the modern era. Some responsa can also be found in his Talmudic commentary ("Dibrot Moshe"), some circulate informally, and 1,883 responsa were published in "Igrot Moshe." Among Feinstein's works:
Some of Feinstein's early works, including a commentary on the Jerusalem Talmud, were lost in Communist Russia, though his first writings are being prepared for publication by the Feinstein Foundation.
Feinstein is known for writing, in a number of places, that certain statements by prominent "rishonim" which Feinstein found theologically objectionable were not in fact written by those "rishonim", but rather inserted into the text by erring students. According to Rabbi Dovid Cohen of Brooklyn, Feinstein attributed such comments to students as a way of politely rejecting statements by "rishonim" while still retaining full reverence for them as religious leaders of earlier generations.
References.
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