ר׳ משה פיינשטיין

ר׳ משה פיינשטיין (3 March 1895–23 March 1986) was a Belarusian-born American rosh yeshivah and halakhic decisor whose responsa became central to twentieth-century Orthodox practice. Born in Uzda to ר׳ דוד פיינשטיין and Faya Gittel, he learned first from his father and later in Slutsk and Shklov, regarding ר׳ פסח פרוסקין as his principal teacher; ר׳ איסר זלמן מלצר and his uncle ר׳ יעקב קנטרוביץ were also formative influences. He married Shima Kustanovich in 1920. From 1921 until leaving the Soviet Union he served as rabbi of Lyuban, sustaining communal religious life under increasing state pressure. The family reached New York in January 1937 and settled on the Lower East Side. At Mesivtha Tifereth Jerusalem he developed its advanced beit midrash and semikhah programme and, after 1938, served as rosh yeshivah. Rabbis and individuals worldwide submitted practical questions to him concerning ritual, family law, commerce, medicine, technology and American communal life. His method combined close Talmudic analysis with direct attention to facts and human circumstances, though particular rulings sometimes drew disagreement from other Orthodox authorities. Seven volumes of אגרות משה appeared during his lifetime and additional material was edited posthumously. His תלמוד commentary דברות משה and Torah discourses דרש משה represent other parts of his scholarship. He chaired Agudath Israel of America's Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah, led the Union of Orthodox Rabbis and advised Torah Umesorah and Chinuch Atzmai. He died in New York and was buried at Har HaMenuchot in Jerusalem.