Talmud Scholar Rabbi Feinstein Buried in Israel

Rabbi Moshe Feinstein, a scholar whose rulings on Jewish law guided the religious practices of millions of Jews around the world, has been buried in Jerusalem, his grandson said Tuesday.

Rabbi Aron Tendler of North Hollywood said his grandfather’s body was flown from New York. On Monday, more than 20,000 Orthodox Jews had jammed the streets of the Lower East Side of New York to listen to eulogies for Feinstein, who died Sunday night at age 91 after a long illness.

The funeral was held at Mesvith Tifereth Jerusalem, the school Feinstein led for nearly half a century after arriving from Russia.

Feinstein was president of the Union of Orthodox Rabbis of United States and Canada for 20 years and chairman of the Council of Torah Sages of Agudath Israel of America for 23 years. He also was active in promoting Orthodox education in Israel.

But he was best known for his “responsa,” or opinions on matters of observance of Jewish law. According to the Encyclopedia Judaica, Orthodox Jews throughout the world regarded his rulings as authoritative. He reportedly studied all 62 volumes of the Talmud that comprise the bulk of Jewish law, reading many of them over 200 times.

His rulings ranged from such simple issues as to whether Jews could ride elevators on the Sabbath (yes, if they involved no manual operation) to science and technology, as well as life under communism and in the United States.

He issued six volumes of responsa on all sections of Jewish law, from 1950 to 1975 (published in Hebrew as “Igrot Moshe”--”The Epistles of Moshe”) and, from 1948 to 1979, 10 volumes on the Talmud.

Born in the Soviet community of Uzda, he studied under his rabbi father. The son served as a rabbi in Russia from 1916 to 1936 before being brought out of the Soviet Union through political intervention.

Feinstein is survived by his wife, two sons who also are rabbis, two daughters who married rabbis, 21 grandchildren and more than 45 great-grandchildren, said Tendler, the associate rabbi of Shaarey Zedek Congregation of North Hollywood.