1. Moshe Feinstein was a Russian-born American Orthodox Jewish rabbi, scholar, and posek.
18 Facts About Moshe Feinstein
1. 2.
Moshe Feinstein has been called the most famous Orthodox Jewish legal authority of the twentieth century and his rulings are often referenced in contemporary rabbinic literature.
3.
Moshe Feinstein was born, according to the Hebrew calendar, on Adar 7,5655 in Uzda, near Minsk, Belarus.
4.
David Moshe Feinstein's father, Yechiel Michel Moshe Feinstein, was a Koidanover Chassid.
5.
Moshe Feinstein's mother was a descendant of talmudist Yom-Tov Lipmann Heller, the Shlah HaKadosh, and Rashi.
6.
Moshe Feinstein studied with his father and in yeshivas located in Slutsk, under Pesach Pruskin, and Shklov.
7.
Moshe Feinstein had a close relationship with his uncle, Yaakov Kantrowitz, rabbi of Timkovichi, whom he greatly revered and considered his mentor.
8.
Moshe Feinstein was appointed rabbi of Lyuban, where he served for sixteen years.
9.
Moshe Feinstein married Shima Kustanovich in 1920 and had four children before leaving Europe.
10.
Moshe Feinstein later established a branch of the yeshiva in Staten Island, New York, now headed by his son Reuven.
11.
Moshe 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.
12.
Moshe Feinstein took an active leadership role in Israel's Chinuch Atzmai.
13.
Moshe Feinstein was recognized by many as the preeminent halakhic authority of his generation; ruling on issues of Jewish law as they pertain to modern times.
14.
Moshe Feinstein later served as the chief halakhic authority for the Association of Orthodox Jewish Scientists, indicative of his expertise in Jewish medical ethics.
15.
Moshe Feinstein faced intense opposition from Hasidic Orthodoxy on several controversial decisions, such as rulings on artificial insemination and mechitza.
16.
Moshe Feinstein was buried on Har HaMenuchot near his teacher, Isser Zalman Meltzer.
17.
Moshe Feinstein wrote approximately 2,000 responsa on a wide range of issues affecting Jewish practice in the modern era.
18.
Moshe Feinstein is known for writing, in a number of places, that certain statements by prominent rishonim which Moshe Feinstein found theologically objectionable were not in fact written by those rishonim, but rather inserted into the text by erring students.