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Moshe Feinstein

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Moshe Feinstein (Yiddish: משה פֿײַנשטײן; Lithuanian pronunciation: Moishe Fainshtein; English: Moses Feinstein;[1] 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[2] 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.

Rabbi
Moshe Feinstein
Artistic Portrait of Reb Moshe Feinstein
Born(1895-03-03)March 3, 1895
Uzda, Minsk Governorate, Russian Empire
(now Belarus)
DiedMarch 23, 1986(1986-03-23) (aged 91)
New York City, United States
Resting placeHar HaMenuchot, West Jerusalem
31°48′00″N 35°11′00″E / 31.8°N 35.183333°E / 31.8; 35.183333
Other namesRav Moshe, Reb Moshe
Occupation(s)Rabbi, Posek
EmployerMesivtha Tifereth Jerusalem
Known forIgros Moshe, various rulings in Jewish law
SpouseShima Kustanovitch
Children5, including Dovid Feinstein
Reuven Feinstein
Moshe Feinstein (center), together with Yona Shtencel (left)
הגאון רבי משה Moshe Feinstein Manuscript
Reb Moshe Feinstein at his desk in the bais medrash of Mesivtha Tifereth Jerusalem.

Feinstein is commonly referred to simply as "Reb Moshe"[3][4] (or "Rav Moshe").[5][6]

Biography

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Moshe Feinstein was born, according to the Hebrew calendar, on Adar 7, 5655[a] 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.[7] 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.[8]

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.[9] 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,[10] 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.[11] People from around the world called upon him to answer their most complicated halachic questions.[12]

Halakhic authority

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See also: List of rulings by Moshe Feinstein

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.[13]

As one of the prominent leaders of American Orthodoxy, Feinstein issued opinions that clearly distanced his community from Conservative and Reform Judaism.[b] 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.[14]

Death

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Moshe Feinstein's grave

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.[15] 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.[16]

Feinstein was buried on Har HaMenuchot near his teacher, Isser Zalman Meltzer.[4]

Prominent students

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Feinstein's students included:

Works

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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:

  • Igrot Moshe; (Epistles of Moshe); pronounced Igros Moshe by Yiddish speakers (such as Feinstein); halakhic responsa in 7 volumes published during his lifetime and widely referenced by contemporary halakhic authorities. The final, seventh volume was published in two different forms, the resulting variations found in a total of 65 responsa.[18] An additional 2 volumes were published posthumously from manuscripts and oral dictations that were transcribed by others.
  • Dibrot Moshe (Moshe's Words); pronounced Dibros Moshe by Yiddish speakers such as Feinstein himself; a 14 volume work of Talmudic novellae with additional volumes being published by the Feinstein Foundation and being coordinated by his grandson, Mordecai Tendler.
  • Darash Moshe (Moshe Expounds, a reference to Leviticus 10:16), a posthumously published volume of novellae on the weekly synagogue Torah reading. [Artscroll subsequently translated this as a two-volume English work.]
  • Kol Ram (High Voice); 3 volumes, printed in his lifetime by Avraham Fishelis, the director of his yeshiva.

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.[c] 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.[19]

Notes

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  1. ^ Traditionally the date of birth and death of the biblical Moshe, the reason that Feinstein was given this name.
  2. ^ For example, see Roth, Joel. The Halakhic Process: A Systematic Analysis, JTS: 1986, pp.71ff. Robinson (2001).
  3. ^ For example, Yehudah haHasid's statement that certain verses of the Torah were written by an author other than Moses; and Nachmanides' statement that Abraham sinned by leaving Canaan and endangering his wife in Egypt (Darash Moshe Vayeira 18:13: Hebrew: וטעות גדול ברמב"ן שכתב שאברהם חטא בזה, ותלמיד טועה טעה לדבר ח"ו סרה על אברהם [transl. And a big mistake in Nahmanides who wrote that Abraham thus sinned, and an errant student misspoke wrongly, heaven forbid, regarding Abraham.])

References

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  1. ^ "The Water's Fine, but Is It Kosher". The New York Times. November 7, 2004.
  2. ^ "A year of loss: Orthodox Jewry reels as rabbis die during COVID-19 pandemic". February 3, 2021.
  3. ^ Reb Moshe: The Life and Ideals of HaGaon Rabbi Moshe Feinstein. ArtScroll. 1986. ISBN 97-81422610848.
  4. ^ a b Marek Cejka; Roman Koran (2015). Rabbis of our Time: Authorities of Judaism. Routledge. ISBN 978-1317605447. Reb Moshe .. body .. to Jerusalem ... funeral at ... Har Ha-Menuchot
  5. ^ "This Day in Jewish history". Haaretz. March 3, 2013. Rabbi Feinstein – known affectionately in the Orthodox world as "Rav Moshe"...
  6. ^ "Story template 5769". Ascent Of Safed. As soon as Rabbi Moshe Feinstein ... turned to Rav Moshe and ...
  7. ^ Feinstein, Moshe (1996). Igros Moshe, Volume XIII (in Hebrew). New York: Judaica Press. p. 6.
  8. ^ Finkelman, Shimon; The Story of Reb Moshe.
  9. ^ "Great Leaders of Our People – Rav Moshe Feinstein". Retrieved December 13, 2009.
  10. ^ "FamilySearch.org". FamilySearch.
  11. ^ "Rabbi Moshe Feinstein Funeral Draws 20,000". Chicago Tribune. March 26, 1986.
  12. ^ "Rabbi Moshe Feinstein", hevratpinto.org. Retrieved May 8, 2020.
  13. ^ "The Halakhic Definition of Life in a Bioethical Context". Retrieved April 16, 2018.
  14. ^ Codex Judaica Mattis Kantor, Zichron Press, NY 2005, p.299
  15. ^ "Rabbi Moshe Feinstein Funeral Draws 20,000". Chicago Tribune. March 26, 1986. Retrieved August 11, 2024.
  16. ^ "Thousands attend American rabbi's funeral".
  17. ^ Scutts, Joseph (July 26, 2021). "Jewish comedian Jackie Mason reflects on his legendary career". The Jerusalem Post. The Jerusalem Report. Retrieved December 21, 2022.
  18. ^ Shalom C. Spira, "A Combination of Two Halakhically Kosher Prenuptial Agreements to Benefit the Jewish Wife," footnote 100 [1]
  19. ^ Development, PodBean. "5/28/16 - Show 69 - Zika Virus and Halacha | Halacha Headlines". podcast.headlinesbook.com.

Bibliography

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  • Dor-Shav (Dershowitz), Zecharia (2022). "Personal Experiences with Great Rabbis of My Generation". Dershowitz Family Saga. Skyhorse. ISBN 9781510770232.
  • Eidensohn, Daniel (2000). יד משה: מפתח לכל ח׳ חלקים של שו״ת אגרות משה מאת משה פיינשטיין (in Hebrew). Jerusalem, Israel: D. Eidensohn. OCLC 51317225.
  • Ellenson, David. "Two Responsa of Rabbi Moshe Feinstein." American Jewish Archives Journal, Volume LII, Nos. 1 and 2, Fall 2000–2001.
  • Feinstein, Moshe; Moshe David Tendler (1996). Responsa of Rav Moshe Feinstein: translation and commentary. [translated and annotated] by Moshe Dovid Tendler. Hoboken, NJ: KTAV Publishing House. ISBN 0-88125-444-4. LCCN 96011212. OCLC 34476198.
  • Rabbi Shimon Finkelman, Rabbi Nosson Scherman. Reb Moshe: The Life and Ideals of HaGaon Rabbi Moshe Feinstein. Brooklyn, NY: ArtScroll Mesorah, 1986. ISBN 0-89906-480-9.
  • Halperin, Mordechai (2006). "The Theological and Halakhic Legitimacy of Medical Therapy and Enhancement". In Noam Zohar (ed.). Quality of life in Jewish bioethics. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books. ISBN 0-7391-1446-8. LCCN 2005029443. OCLC 62078279.
  • Joseph, Norma Baumel (1995). Separate Spheres: Women in the Responsa of Rabbi Moses Feinstein (PhD thesis). Concordia University.
  • "Rav Moshe Feinstein". Great Leaders of our People. Orthodox Union. Retrieved October 10, 2007.
  • _________. "Jewish education for women: Rabbi Moshe Feinstein's map of America." American Jewish history, 1995
  • Rackman, Emanuel. "Halachic progress: Rabbi Moshe Feinstein's Igrot Moshe on Even ha-Ezer" in Judaism 12 (1964), 365–373
  • Robinson, Ira. "Because of our many sins: The contemporary Jewish world as reflected in the responsa of Moses Feinstein" 2001
  • Rosner, Fred. "Rabbi Moshe Feinstein's Influence on Medical Halacha" Journal of Halacha and Contemporary Society. No. XX, 1990
  • __________. Rabbi Moshe Feinstein on the treatment of the terminally ill." Judaism. Spring 37(2):188–98. 1988
  • Rabbi Mordecai Tendler, interview with grandson of Rabbi Feinstein and shamash for 18 years.
  • Warshofsky, Mark E. "Responsa and the Art of Writing: Three Examples from the Teshuvot of Rabbi Moshe Feinstein," in An American Rabbinate: A Festschrift for Walter Jacob Pittsburgh, Rodef Shalom Press, 2001 (Download in PDF format)
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