Feinstein was appointed rabbi ofLyuban, 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.[9] Pesach Chaim died in Europe, and another son,Reuven, was born in the United States. Under increasing pressure from theSoviet regime, in January 1937 he moved with his family to New York City,[10] where he lived for the rest of his life.
Feinstein was recognized by many as the preeminenthalakhic authority (posek) of his generation, ruling on issues of Jewish law as they pertain to modern times.[11] People around the world called upon him to answer their most complicated halachic questions.[12]
Owing to his prominence as anadjudicator 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 theAssociation 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-lawMoshe David Tendler, a professor ofbiology who served as a rosh yeshiva atYeshiva University.[13]
As one of the prominent leaders of American Orthodoxy, Feinstein issued opinions that clearly distanced his community fromConservative andReform Judaism.[b] He faced intense opposition fromHasidic Orthodoxy on several controversial decisions, such as rulings on artificial insemination andmechitza. Feinstein did not prohibitcigarette 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 hisIgrot Moshe, a voluminous collection of his halakhic decisions, was published in 1959.[14]
Feinstein died on March 23, 1986 (13th ofAdar II, 5746). Over 20,000 people gathered to hear him eulogized in New York before he was flown toIsrael for burial.[15] 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.[16]
Feinstein wrote approximately 2,000responsa 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 inIgrot Moshe. Among Feinstein's works are:
Igrot Moshe (Epistles of Moshe, pronouncedIgros 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.[18] An additional two volumes were published posthumously from manuscripts and oral dictations transcribed by others.
Dibrot Moshe (Moshe's Words, pronouncedDibros Moshe by Yiddish speakers), a 14-volume work ofTalmudic novellae with additional volumes published by the Feinstein Foundation and coordinated by his grandson Mordecai Tendler.
Darash Moshe (Moshe Expounds, a reference toLeviticus 10:16), a posthumously published volume of novellae on the weekly synagogueTorah 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 theJerusalem 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 prominentrishonim that he found theologically objectionable were not in fact written by thoserishonim, but rather inserted into the text by erring students.[c] According to Rabbi Dovid Cohen ofBrooklyn, Feinstein attributed such comments to students as a way of politely rejecting statements byrishonim while still retaining full reverence for them as religious leaders of earlier generations.[19]
__________. 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 forWalter 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.
