Moshe Feinstein

Biography

Moshe Feinstein was born, according to the Hebrew calendar, on Adar 7, 5655, in Uzda, Minsk Governorate, in the Russian Empire (now in Belarus). 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 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 his rebbe.

Feinstein was appointed rabbi of Lyuban, where he served for 16 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, in January 1937 he moved with his family to New York City, 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 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 to reach 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, an indication of his expertise in Jewish medical ethics. In the medical arena, he opposed the early, unsuccessful heart transplants, although it 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 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. Feinstein did not prohibit cigarette smoking, though he recommended against it and prohibited secondhand smoke; other Orthodox rabbinic authorities disagreed. Even while disagreeing with specific rulings, his detractors still considered him a leading interpreter 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 was delayed by a day due to mechanical problems with the plane carrying his coffin, which 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 include:

• Nisson Alpert, rabbi of Agudath Israel of Long Island, New York
• Avrohom Blumenkrantz (1944–2007), author of The Laws of Pesach
• Shimon Eider, posek and author
• Dovid Feinstein, rosh yeshiva of Mesivtha Tifereth Jerusalem in New York City, his son
• Reuven Feinstein, rosh yeshiva of Yeshiva of Staten Island, New York, his son
• Shmuel Fuerst, dayan (judge of Chicago Rabbinical Council
• Ephraim Greenblatt, posek
• Nota Greenblatt, Av Beis Din (chief judge) of Vaad Hakehilos of Memphis, Tennessee
• Jackie Mason, rabbi and comedian who played Rabbi Hyman Krustofsky on The Simpsons
• Moshe Dovid Tendler, rosh yeshiva (dean) at Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary, his son-in-law

Works

Feinstein wrote approximately 2,000 responsa on a wide range of issues affecting Jewish practice in the modern era. Some responsa can be found in his Talmudic commentary (Dibrot Moshe), some circulate informally, and 1,883 responsa were published in Igrot Moshe. Among Feinstein's works are:

• Igrot Moshe (Epistles of Moshe, pronounced Igros Moshe by Yiddish speakers such as Feinstein), halakhic responsa in seven volumes published during his lifetime and widely referenced by contemporary halakhic authorities. The seventh volume was published in two different forms, the resulting variations found in 65 responsa. An additional two volumes were published posthumously from manuscripts and oral dictations transcribed by others.
• Dibrot Moshe (Moshe's Words, pronounced Dibros Moshe by Yiddish speakers), a 14-volume work of Talmudic novellae with additional volumes published by the Feinstein Foundation and 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), three 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 the Feinstein Foundation is preparing his first writings for publication.

Feinstein is known for writing, in a number of places, that certain statements by prominent rishonim that he 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.

Notes

References

Bibliography

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• Ellenson, David. "Two Responsa of Rabbi Moshe Feinstein." American Jewish Archives Journal, Volume LII, Nos. 1 and 2, Fall 2000–2001.
• {{cite book | author-link = Moshe Feinstein |author2-link=Moshe David Tendler
• Rabbi Shimon Finkelman, Rabbi Nosson Scherman. Reb Moshe: The Life and Ideals of HaGaon Rabbi Moshe Feinstein. Brooklyn, NY: ArtScroll Mesorah, 1986. .
• {{cite book | author-link = Mordechai Halperin
• {{cite thesis
• {{cite web |access-date =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)
• Joseph, Norma Baumel. “Jewish Education for Women: Rabbi Moshe Feinstein’s Map of America.” American Jewish History 83, no. 2 (1995): 205–22. /
• Jotkowitz, Alan. “R. MOSHE FEINSTEIN AND THE ROLE OF AUTONOMY IN MEDICAL ETHICS DECISION MAKING.” Modern Judaism 30, no. 2 (2010): 196–208. .
• Jotkowitz, Alan. “THE SEMINAL CONTRIBUTION OF RABBI MOSHE FEINSTEIN TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF MODERN JEWISH MEDICAL ETHICS.” The Journal of Religious Ethics 42, no. 2 (2014): 285–309. .

References

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6. Feinstein, Moshe. (1996). "Igros Moshe, Volume XIII". Judaica Press.
7. Finkelman, Shimon; ''The Story of Reb Moshe''.
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10. (March 26, 1986). "Rabbi Moshe Feinstein Funeral Draws 20,000".
11. [https://hevratpinto.org/tzadikim_eng/174_rabbi_moshe_feinstein.html "Rabbi Moshe Feinstein"], ''hevratpinto.org.'' Retrieved May 8, 2020.
12. "The Halakhic Definition of Life in a Bioethical Context".
13. ''Codex Judaica'' Mattis Kantor, Zichron Press, NY 2005, p.299
14. (March 26, 1986). "Rabbi Moshe Feinstein Funeral Draws 20,000". [[Chicago Tribune]].
15. "Thousands attend American rabbi's funeral".
16. (2015). "Rabbis of our Time: Authorities of Judaism". Routledge.
17. Scutts, Joseph. (July 26, 2021). "Jewish comedian Jackie Mason reflects on his legendary career". The Jerusalem Report.
18. Shalom C. Spira, "A Combination of Two Halakhically Kosher Prenuptial Agreements to Benefit the Jewish Wife," footnote 100 [https://www.scribd.com/doc/176990434/Prenuptial-Agreements]
19. Development, PodBean. "5/28/16 - Show 69 - Zika Virus and Halacha | Halacha Headlines".