Moshe Feinstein

Rabbi Moshe Feinstein (1895-1986) was an Orthodox Rabbi who was world renowned for his expertise in halacha (Jewish Law) and was the de facto supreme Rabbinic authority for the Orthodox Jewry of North America. He was born, according to the Hebrew calendar, on the 7th day of Adar, 5655 (traditionally the date of birth of the Biblical Moshe) in Uzdan, near Minsk, Belarus (then Russian empire).

He was a community Rabbi in Communist Russia for over twenty years under increasing pressure, and finally moved to New York City in the late 1930s where he lived for the rest of his life. He died in 1986 on the Hebrew calendar date of 13th of Adar II, 5746.

He authored an eight-volume set of Halachic responsa called Igroth Moshe (Letters of Moshe), which is still in wide usage in Orthodox Judaism circles. Talmudic novellae appeared as Dibroth Moshe (Moshe's words), and novellae on the Torah appeared posthumously as Darash Moshe (Moshe expounded).

He was the rabbinic head of Agudath Israel of America.

He lived into his nineties, and was the rosh yeshiva (dean) of the yeshiva Mesivta Tiferes Jerusalem. He established a branch of his yeshiva on Staten Island, New York, headed by his son Rabbi Reuven Feinstein. His son Rabbi David Feinstein heads the Manhattan branch.

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