15 Mar RAV MOSHE FEINSTEIN ZT”L ON HIS 36TH YAHRTZEIT: A MODEL FOR ALL OF US, AS REMEMBERED BY A TALMUD

It is hard
to believe
that this
Taanis Esther
will already
be the 35th
yahrzeit of the
Rosh Yeshiva,
H a G a o n ,
Rav Moshe
Feinstein, Zt”l, Zy”a. There was
a time that, when you said ‘Reb
Moshe,’ everyone all over the
globe instantly knew about whom
you were talking. Now, three and
a half decades later, when I speak
to seminary students of yeshiva
bochrim and I say Rav Moshe,
they look at me questioningly. ‘Do
you mean Rav Moshe Wolfson,
Shlit”a?’ ‘Rav Moshe Sternbuch,
Shlit”a?’ It makes me acutely aware
that there is an entire generation
unaware of the incredible sagacity
and personality of this giant among
men.
The posuk commands us, “Zachor
y’mos olam, binu shnos dor v’dor
– Remember the days of old, look
into the generations of the past.”
We are advised to study the past so
that we know what to aspire for and
at least to have visions of greatness.
I had the merit to serve the Rosh
Yeshiva during his weekly visits to
the Yeshiva of Staten Island from
1972 to 1982. With the help of
Hashem I was granted even more
exposure to Rav Moshe during
the summer months which I spent
together with him in Camp Yeshiva
of Staten Island, first in what was
known as Camp Westmount, and
then in Camp Westwood.
It is said of certain gedolim,
great people, that their incredible
brilliance together with their vast
encyclopedic knowledge causes
one to overlook their additional
sterling character traits. In this
area, I was at an advantage for, as
a rather average adolescent yeshiva
bochur, I did not have sufficient
awareness of the Rosh Yeshiva’s

once-in-a-century gaon-ness,

and was therefore able to zoom-
in on his warm, kind, sensitive,

caring, patient persona. This was
something that a young boy could
embrace. Knowing now, as I do,
that he was the very embodiment
of Torah, I’d like to share with

you so some of my memories so
that we may all learn from some of
the beautiful ways of a true Torah
personality.
First of all, there was his incredible
warmth. He never shook your hand.
He took your hand and clasped
it with both his hands and gave
your hand a hug. He gave you a
warm smile and you forgot that the
weightiest problems of the entire
world rested upon his shoulders.
Furthermore, his warmth was
universal. As it states in Pirkei
Avos, “Eizahu m’chubad?
Ha’mechabeid es habrios –
Who is an honored person? He
who honors all of Hashem’s
creations.” He was oh so nice
to the janitor in the yeshiva. I
remember him saying in a broken
English, ‘Thank you,’ to John
who was the caretaker at Yeshiva
Staten Island. My brother, Rabbi
Yosef Asher Weiss, who married
Rav Moshe’s granddaughter
Ahuva, remembers that when
they had a baby, they had a

Jamaican nurse, Shirley, by name,
who remembered affectionately
the fine old man who was always
pleasant to her. Every Shavuos, our
wonderful cook, Mr. Yager, OB”M,
would receive a special visit in the
kitchen from Rav Moshe, thanking
him effusively for making so many

hundreds of delicious blintzes by
hand for his bochrim.
This kindness was also seen
throughout his pesakim, his
halachic decisions. Throughout
the world until this day, his many
volumes of Responsa, the Igros
Moshe, are still used as the final
say in diverse matters of Halacha.
His son, Rabbi Dovid Feinstein,
zt”l, relates that when his father
first came to America in 1937, after
escaping the harsh persecutions

of the NKVD, when he was the
Rav in Luban, Russia, he was not
looking to be on the world stage.
He was planning to teach Torah
in MTJ, and write his wonderful

seforim. But, when the many war-
widows started returning from the

Holocaust, not knowing the fate of
their husbands who were last seen
in death camps, no one wanted
to touch these difficult agunah
questions for there is no wiggle
room for a mistake in this area. If
you permit the woman to remarry
and her first husband comes back
alive, it is catastrophic. Rav
Moshe, with his great sensitivity
and kindness undertook this task
which catapulted him upon the
world stage. On who is proficient
with his halachic decisions will
know that they are laced with
kindness and a great depth of
human understanding.
Then, there was his incredible
humility. There were no airs about
him. He was affectionately known
as the Gaon of Normalcy. Yet, who
could forget Agudah Conventions
in the 1980s when Rav Moshe
would enter and a thousand people
would jump up with alacrity in his
honor. He was the true example
of, “He who flees from honor,
honor pursues him.” Another
unique feature, concerning him,
something which we in America
do not see in our generation, that
was seen during his years as the
chairman of Moetzas HaGadolei

Ha Torah: When he rendered a

decision, it was almost immediately
universally accepted and this is
from a person whose posture was
soft and yielding.
There was something else that left an
indelible impression upon a young
boy’s mind and heart. This was his
incredible all-encompassing Torah
Hasmada, Torah diligence. To put
it simply, he was always learning
or writing his Torah novella. Those
who are old enough remember
how he would assiduously learn
Mishnayos during the pauses in
davening and while wrapping his
tefillin. While waiting for a car
or upon awakening from a nap,
he would carry around a Tanach
and review over and over again
Torah, Naviyim, and Kesuvim. He
had the uncanny ability to pick up
the phone while he was learning,
answer someone’s question and
then seamlessly continue
immediately from
where he left off in his
learning. His notebooks,
which contain his Torah
chiddushim, novel
insights, would start
and end in the middle
of sentences which, to
me, always carried the
message that Torah is a
non-stop and unending
pursuit of life. Yet,
even with this amazing
discipline, there existed
the perfect balance that,
when he spoke with
someone the person
never felt rushed or that
he was a bother.
Then, there was Rav
Moshe’s incredible
tefilah. There are many
people who, being so
immersed in learning,
dispatch their prayers
as quickly as possible,
or relegate tefilah to a
second-class activity.
When the Rosh Yeshiva
davened, nothing else

existed. He stood ramrod straight
while davening Shemone Esrei and
even during chazoras hashatz, the
chazon’s review of Shemone Esrei,
he was still totally immersed. I
remember once I needed to get
his attention during the review of
the Shemone Esrei. I had to go
around, face him and look right
at him before I could break his
concentration. And how he prayed
for Klal Yisroel! I remember
mincha on Erev Yom Kippur. He
would come in to daven with a long
list that had names for good health,
for shalom bayis, for childless
couples, for parnassa, and more.
Then there was his incredible
tolerance, his savlonus. I
remember we had a middle aged
man in yeshiva who was somewhat
mentally unbalanced. One day,
around 10:30 in the morning while
the entire yeshiva was sitting and

learning with their chavrusas,
this man came in and started
saying Shemone Esrei aloud to the
shock of the mashgiach, HaRav
Gershon Weiss, Shlit”a, who was
sitting there as well. But, since Rav
Moshe was also in the room no one
said anything, awaiting his reaction.
When this man got up to say the
Kedusha, Rav Moshe calmly got up
as well and answered responsively
– so of course all of us did so as
well. And now, four decades after
that incident of amazing tolerance,
it still leaves an
incredible impression
upon me. On the
Lower East Side as
well, he would be a
bastion of acceptance
to the most difficult of
people.
An appreciation of
his all-encompassing
knowledge and depth
of the full gamut of
Torah is beyond the
scope of this short
appreciation. Suffice
to say that the entire
world recognizes that
when he rendered a
halachic decision, he
took everything that
was written in the
Talmud and Shuchan
Oruch, the Tur and the
Rambam, the Mishna
Berurah and the
Oruch Hashulchan,
the written law
and the oral law,
countless Rishonim
and Achronim,
without ever

forgetting a single detail. He was
an unparalleled master at applying
the full-range of Torah law to
any question that was posed to
him , even concerning the newest
modern technology, scientific
breakthroughs, and medical
advances.
To close this appreciation, which of
course barely touches the surface,
we must mention what might have
been the Rosh Yeshiva’s crowning
virtue. All his life he was a
man of peace. When asked the
perennial question why he thought
he merited living so long, he
answered, “Mein gantz leben hab
ich kein mahl nit g’ton vay tzu ah
mentchen – My whole life I never
caused another person pain.” He
was universally loved by Jews of
all stripes and from all continents.
He would say that it is not enough
to learn Torah one must learn
Toras Shalom and would quote the
Rambam that the whole Torah was
given to promote peace, as it says.
“D’racheha darchei noam, v’chol
nesivoseha shalom – Its ways are
ways of sweetness and all Its paths
are paths of peace.”
May we all merit to follow in his
glorious footsteps, may he be a
meilitz yosher, a good intercessor,
for world Jewry about whom he
cared for with every fiber of his
being. May his neshama have
an aliya from the inspiration that
his life continues to generate
in us, and in that merit may we
be blessed with long life, good
health, and everything wonderful.