Moses Rosen - His Family and Youth

His Family and Youth

He was born on July 23, 1912 in the town of Moineşti, in the district of Bacău, as son of a known rabbi, the rav gaon Avraham Arie Leib Rosen (1870–1951), of Galician origin. In 1916 the father, Avraham Arie Leib Rosen, became rabbi in another Moldavian town, Fălticeni and moved there with the whole family. He used to preach in the "Habad" synagogue and was one of the most esteemed rabbis. Through the mediation of his son-in-law, the rabbi dr Wolf (Zeev) Gottlieb from Glasgow, his responsa and other religious law works of him were edited and printed in Rav Kook Publishing House in Jerusalem (Shaagat Arié, Eitan Arie, 1912; Pirkei Shoshana, 1920). As child, Moses Rosen lived in Fălticeni a part of his childhood years, learned Torah and Talmud with his father for many years along and studied at the local high school. Once, at age 14 after having expressed publicly an opinion against the antisemitism was arrested and judged for false Lèse majesté charges. Fortunately was granted amnesty after a month. After having passed the state maturity exams in Dorohoi, in 1931 the young Moses Rosen entered the Law faculty in the University of Bucharest. But the antisemitic atmosphere which dominated then the university life in the Romanian capital caused him to prefer to stop the law studies there and to go to renew them in Vienna. In the same while started studies at the Viennese Rabbinical Seminary. For economical reasons had to come back to Romania and this time, despite of the hardships, succeeded to learn to the end at the Faculty of Law and to get the licence (Dr. Juris) in 1935. Then made his duty military service for two years in his residence town Fălticeni, most of the time as military rabbi and confessor. In 1937 came back to Vienna in order to end them his Rabbinical studies. Learned there with the rabbi Altdorf. The Anschluss in May 1938 forced him to leave soon. On coming back to Romania, got in 1939 the licence of rabbi from some of the greatest rabbis of the country: Haim Rabinovici, Baruh Glanz, Moses Berger, members of the Rabbinical Council of Bucharest and from the chief rabbi of Romania, dr Jacob Itzhak Niemirower and the chief rabbi of Bucovina, dr.Abraham Jacob Mark.