The legacy of Rav Moshe Feinstein lives on

Ta’anis Esther, next Wednesday, will again mark the Yahrtzeit of HaRav HaGaon Moshe Feinstein, zt”l. For this occasion, we will again briefly highlight the valuable biography, “Reb Moshe” (Artscroll 2011) by Rabbi Shimon Finkelman, perhaps the most comprehensive treatment of the life’s work and evaluation of the ethical ideals that serve as the eternal legacy of Rav Feinstein of blessed memory.

Among the most riveting chapters is the one entitled, “A Rabbi Under Communism,” in which the author brings to life a largely unknown chapter of Rav Feinstein’s struggles in the early years of his rabbinate under the vicious and cruel regime of Marxism in the USSR, an early 20th century incarnation of the rule of Amalek against all Yiddishkeit.

Highlighted within this chapter are the experiences both he and his father, Rav Dovid Feinstein, zt”l, had in facing this anti-Semitic tyranny. Among their struggles were the attempts to shutdown the mikvot that were under their supervision and the interrogations and vicious harassments experienced by them personally and by their their families and communal leaders. Despite Rav Feinstein’s brave tenacity, the tyranny prevailed, resulting in the shutdown of just about all institutionalized Yiddishkeit in the USSR. While this may not make for leisurely reading, it certainly makes for a timely reading-lesson filled with Purim themes and experiences.

Rav Feinstein’s experiences in the Soviet realm were to serve him in good stead upon his arrival to these blessed shores. And, as they say, the rest is history. It also should be noted, as a personal observation, that this work is dedicated, in part, in memory of my dear friend and former neighbor in New York, Judge Paul Bookson,a”h, by his wife, Tova, and by his daughter Rochel and son in law, Dr. Moshe Schlusselberg, of Woodmere.