Moshe Feinstein (Yiddish: משה פֿײַנשטײן; Lithuanian pronunciation: Moishe Fainshtein; English: Moses Feinstein; March 3, 1895 – March 23, 1986) was a Russian-born American Orthodox Jewish rabbi, scholar, and posek (authority on halakha—Jewish law).
Born~Died Mar 3, 1895 ~ Mar 23, 1986Last edited Oct 15, 2026, 5:48 PM
Feinstein is commonly called "Reb Moshe"34 (or "Rav Moshe").56
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 Chassid. His mother was a descendant of talmudist , the , and . He studied with his father and in in , under , and .
This page is based on “Moshe Feinstein” from English Wikipedia, (r1363368103) CC BY-SA 4.0 used under the license. The original authors are listed in its page history.
Feinstein was said by some to be the preeminent halakhic authority (posek) of his generation, ruling on issues of Jewish law as they pertain to modern times.10
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.11
As one of the prominent leaders of American Orthodoxy, Feinstein issued opinions that clearly distanced his community from Conservative and Reform Judaism.12 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 1959.13
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.14 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.15
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.17 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.18 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
Bibliography
Dor-Shav (Dershowitz), Zecharia (2022). "Personal Experiences with Great Rabbis of My Generation". Dershowitz Family Saga. Skyhorse. ISBN9781510770232.
Eidensohn, Daniel (2000). יד משה: מפתח לכל ח׳ חלקים של שו״ת אגרות משה מאת משה פיינשטיין (in Hebrew). Jerusalem, Israel: D. Eidensohn. OCLC51317225.
Ellenson, David. "Two Responsa of Rabbi Moshe Feinstein." American Jewish Archives Journal, Volume LII, Nos. 1 and 2, Fall 2000–2001.
__________. 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. JSTORhttps://www.jstor.org/stable/23885639/
Jotkowitz, Alan. “R. MOSHE FEINSTEIN AND THE ROLE OF AUTONOMY IN MEDICAL ETHICS DECISION MAKING.” Modern Judaism 30, no. 2 (2010): 196–208. JSTORhttp://www.jstor.org/stable/40604706.
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. JSTORhttp://www.jstor.org/stable/24586142.
Shalom C. Spira, "A Combination of Two Halakhically Kosher Prenuptial Agreements to Benefit the Jewish Wife," footnote 100 ↩
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 MosheVayeira 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.]) ↩
Feinstein is commonly called "Reb Moshe"34 (or "Rav Moshe").56
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 's brother. David Feinstein's father, Yechiel Michel Feinstein, was a Chassid. His mother was a descendant of talmudist , the , and . He studied with his father and in in , under , and .
Feinstein was said by some to be the preeminent halakhic authority (posek) of his generation, ruling on issues of Jewish law as they pertain to modern times.10
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.11
As one of the prominent leaders of American Orthodoxy, Feinstein issued opinions that clearly distanced his community from Conservative and Reform Judaism.12 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 1959.13
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.14 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.15
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.17 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.18 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
Bibliography
Dor-Shav (Dershowitz), Zecharia (2022). "Personal Experiences with Great Rabbis of My Generation". Dershowitz Family Saga. Skyhorse. ISBN9781510770232.
Eidensohn, Daniel (2000). יד משה: מפתח לכל ח׳ חלקים של שו״ת אגרות משה מאת משה פיינשטיין (in Hebrew). Jerusalem, Israel: D. Eidensohn. OCLC51317225.
Ellenson, David. "Two Responsa of Rabbi Moshe Feinstein." American Jewish Archives Journal, Volume LII, Nos. 1 and 2, Fall 2000–2001.
__________. 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. JSTORhttps://www.jstor.org/stable/23885639/
Jotkowitz, Alan. “R. MOSHE FEINSTEIN AND THE ROLE OF AUTONOMY IN MEDICAL ETHICS DECISION MAKING.” Modern Judaism 30, no. 2 (2010): 196–208. JSTORhttp://www.jstor.org/stable/40604706.
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. JSTORhttp://www.jstor.org/stable/24586142.
Shalom C. Spira, "A Combination of Two Halakhically Kosher Prenuptial Agreements to Benefit the Jewish Wife," footnote 100 ↩
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 MosheVayeira 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.]) ↩