The Views of Rabbi Moses Feinstein, Rabbi Abraham Joshua ...

Rabbi Moses Feinstein: Biographical Sketch
Rabbi Moses Feinstein was widely regarded as one of the most, if not the most,
prominent poseqim, or legal decisors, among American Jewry and, arguably, global
Jewry ―in the second half of the twentieth century.‖ 94
He was born in Uzdan, in the
district of Minsk, Belorussia, where his father served as a rabbi. In 1921, he, himself,
became the rabbi of Luban, located in the same district. In 1920, he married Shima
Kustanovich, who gave birth to three children in Russia: Faye Gittel, Shifra, and David,
as well as one in America: Reuven. In 1937, Feinstein, along with his family, eventually
emigrated to the United States, where he taught at the Orthodox Rabbinical Seminary in
Cleveland, Ohio ―for a few months‖ 95 before becoming Rosh HaYeshivah of Mesivta
Tifereth Jerusalem in New York City. In 1960, he became co-president of the Agudath
ha-Rabbanim of America, ―an Orthodox rabbinic organization made up predominantly of
European- as opposed to American-trained rabbis‖ 96
and known for its ―policy of
nonrecognition of and noncooperation with the American Orthodox rabbinate.‖ 97
In
1962, he became chairman of the American section of the Mo’ezet Gedolei ha-Torah,
94 Telushkin 474
95 Robinson 242
96 Robinson 242
97 Gurock 10
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