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{{Short description|Belarusian-born American Orthodox rabbi, scholar, and leading posek}}{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2011}}

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| birth_place = Uzda, Minsk Governorate, Russian Empire(now Belarus)1986233|3}}| death_place = New York City, United States| death_cause =| resting_place = Har HaMenuchot, West Jerusalem31.835.183333|E}}| nationality =| other_names = Rav Moshe, Reb Moshe| known_for = Igros Moshe, various rulings in Jewish law| employer = Mesivtha Tifereth Jerusalem| occupation = Rabbi, Posek| spouse = Shima Kustanovitch| children = Pesach Chaim FeinsteinDovid FeinsteinReuven FeinsteinShifra TendlerFaye Shisgal| signature =| footnotes =}}File:Crop-מייסד לימוד משנה יומית הלכה יומית רבי יונה שטנצל משמאל עם רבי משה פיינשטיין באמצע.jpg|thumb|Moshe Feinstein (center), together with Yona Shtencel (left)]](File:הגאון רבי משה פיינשטיין על לימוד משנה יומית ולימוד הלכה יומית.JPG|thumb|הגאון רבי משה Moshe Feinstein Manuscript)Moshe Feinstein (; Lithuanian pronunciation: Moshe Faynshteyn; ;WEB, The New York Times Feinstein is commonly referred to simply as “Reb Moshe”BOOK

Biography

Rabbi Moshe Feinstein was born, according to the Hebrew calendar, on Adar 7, 5655 (traditionally the date of birth and death of the biblical Moshe, the reason that he was given his name), in Uzda, near Minsk, Belarus (then part of the Russian Empire). His father, Rabbi David Feinstein, was the rabbi of Uzda and a great-grandson of the Vilna Gaon’s brother. David Feinstein’s father, Rabbi Yechiel Michel Feinstein, was a Koidanover Chassid.BOOK, Feinstein, Moshe, Igros Moshe, Volume XIII, Judaica Press, 1996, New York, 6, Hebrew, 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.Finkelman, Shimon; The Story of Reb Moshe.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.WEB,www.ou.org/about/judaism/rabbis/feinstein.htm, Great Leaders of Our People – Rav Moshe Feinstein, December 13, 2009, 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,WEB,www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:24K8-VFR, FamilySearch.org, FamilySearch, where he lived for the rest of his life.Settling on the Lower East Side, he 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 Feinstein. His son Dovid Feinstein headed the Manhattan branch.He 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 halachic authority (posek) of his generation; ruling on issues of Jewish law as they pertain to modern times.WEB,www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1986-03-26-8601220614-story.html, Rabbi Moshe Feinstein Funeral Draws 20,000, Chicago Tribune, March 26, 1986, People from around the world called upon him to answer their most complicated halachic questions.“Rabbi Moshe Feinstein”, hevratpinto.org. Retrieved May 8, 2020.

Halachic authority

{{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. For instance, he wrote 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 orally reported 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, who was a professor of biology and served as a rosh yeshiva at Yeshiva University.WEB,www.scribd.com/document/375175373/Halakhic-Bioethic, The Halakhic Definition of Life in a Bioethical Context, April 16, 2018, As one of the prominent leaders of American Orthodoxy, Feinstein issued opinions that clearly distanced his community from Conservative and Reform Judaism.For example, see Roth, Joel. The Halakhic Process: A Systematic Analysis, JTS: 1986, pp.71ff. Robinson (2001). 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 his detractors, while disagreeing with specific rulings, still considered him to be a leading decisor of Jewish law. The first volume of his Igrot Moshe, a voluminous collection of his halachic decisions, was published in 1959.Codex Judaica Mattis Kantor, Zichron Press, NY 2005, p.299

Death

(File:Grave of Moses Feinstein.jpg|thumb|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.WEB,www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1986-03-26-8601220614-story.html, Rabbi Moshe Feinstein Funeral Draws 50,000, Chicago Tribune, March 26, 1986, 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. His funeral in Israel was said to be attended by between 200,000 and 250,000 people.WEB,www.upi.com/Archives/1986/03/26/Thousands-attend-American-rabbis-funeral/2509511792502/, Thousands attend American rabbi’s funeral, Feinstein was buried on Har HaMenuchot near his teacher, Isser Zalman Meltzer.BOOK, Rabbis of our Time: Authorities of Judaismisbn=978-1317605447author2=Roman Koran, 2015quote=Reb Moshe .. body .. to Jerusalem, .. funeral at ... Har Ha-Menuchot,

Prominent students

Feinstein’s students included:

• 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
• Moshe Dovid Tendler (1926-2021), rosh yeshiva (dean) at Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary, his son-in-law
• Jackie Mason, rabbi and comedian who played Rabbi Hyman Krustofsky on The SimpsonsWEB, Scutts, Joseph, July 26, 2021, Jewish comedian Jackie Mason reflects on his legendary career,www.jpost.com/jerusalem-report/jewish-comedian-jackie-mason-reflects-on-his-legendary-career-656734, 2022-12-21, The Jerusalem Post, The Jerusalem Report, en-US,

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:

• Igrot Moshe; (Epistles of Moshe); pronounced Igros Moshe by Yiddish speakers (such as Feinstein); Halachic responsa in 7 volumes published during his lifetime and widely referenced by contemporary halachic authorities. The final, seventh volume was published in two different forms, the resulting variations found in a total of 65 responsa.Shalom C. Spira, “A Combination of Two Halakhically Kosher Prenuptial Agreements to Benefit the Jewish Wife,” footnote 100 weblink 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.For example, R’ 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 Vayera 18:13: וטעות גדול ברמב“ן שכתב שאברהם חטא בזה, ותלמיד טועה טעה לדבר ×—“ו סרה על אברהם) According to Rav 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.WEB,podcast.headlinesbook.com/e/52816-zika-virus-and-halacha/, 5/28/16 - Show 69 - Zika Virus and Halacha | Halacha Headlines, PodBean, Development, podcast.headlinesbook.com,

References

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Bibliography

• BOOK, Dershowitz Family Saga, 9781510770232, Dor-Shav (Dershowitz), Zecharia, 2022, Personal Experiences with Great Rabbis of My Generation, Skyhorse,
• BOOK

,

• Ellenson, David. “Two Responsa of Rabbi Moshe Feinstein.” American Jewish Archives Journal, Volume LII, Nos. 1 and 2, Fall 2000–2001.
• BOOK

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• 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}}.
• BOOK

,

• THESIS

,

• WEB,www.ou.org/about/judaism/rabbis/feinstein.htm, Rav Moshe Feinstein, October 10, 2007, Great Leaders of our People, Orthodox Union

,

• _________. “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 (www.huc.edu/faculty/faculty/washofsky/responsaandtheartofwriting.pdf" title="web.archive.org/web/20071202190259www.huc.edu/faculty/faculty/washofsky/responsaandtheartofwriting.pdf">Download in PDF format)

External links

• Biography of Rabbi Moshe Feinstein
• “HaRav Moshe Feinstein: In honor of his 15th yahrtzeit, 13th Adar” – A retrospective of Rav Moshe Feinstein’s life, with recollections on his character as a person.
• Most volumes of Igros Moshe are available for free at hebrewbooks.org. A detailed listing with links to all freely available sections appears at Mi Yodeya: Quick-Reference List of the Section-Contents of Igros Moshe.

{{Commentators on the Jerusalem Talmud|state=collapsed}}{{Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah}}{{Authority control}}