Moshe Feinstein - Notable Decisions

Notable Decisions

Owing to his prominence as an adjudicator of Jewish law, Feinstein was asked the most difficult questions, in which he issued a number of innovative and controversial decisions. Soon after arriving in the United States, he established a reputation for handling business and labor disputes. For instance, he wrote about strikes, seniority, and fair competition. Later, he served as the chief Halakhic authority for the Association of Orthodox Jewish Scientists, which suited his growing involvement with Jewish medical ethics cases. In the medical arena, he fiercely opposed the early, unsuccessful heart transplants and, over time, it is unclear whether he shifted toward acceptance of brain death criteria; the last responsa, printed after he had died, suggests as much. On such matters, he often consulted with various scientific experts, including his son-in-law Rabbi Dr. Moshe Dovid Tendler who is a professor of biology and serves as a rosh yeshiva at Yeshiva University.

As a leader of American Orthodoxy, moreover, Feinstein issued opinions that clearly distanced his community from Conservative and Reform Judaism. Nevertheless, he faced intense opposition within Orthodoxy on several controversial decisions, such as rulings on artificial insemination and eruv. In the case of his position not to prohibit cigarette smoking, other Orthodox rabbinic authorities disagreed. It should be noted that all his detractors while disagreeing with specific rulings still considered him to be a leading and venerated sage. The first volume of his Igrot Moshe, a voluminous collection of his halachic decisions, was published in 1959. He made noteworthy decisions on the following topics:

• Artificial insemination from a non-Jewish donor (EH I:10,71, II:11, IV:32.5)
• Cosmetic surgery (HM II:66)
• Bat Mitzvah for girls (OH I:104 (1956), OH II:97 (1959), OH IV:36)
• Brain death as an indication of death under Jewish law (YD IV:54)
• Cholov Yisroel Permitted reliance on U.S. government agency supervision in ensuring that milk was reliably kosher (YD I:47). This was a highly controversial ruling disputed by prominent peers of Feinstein.
• Cheating for the N.Y. Regents exams (HM II:30)
• Classical music in religious settings (YD II:111)
• Commemorating the Holocaust, Yom ha-Shoah (YD IV:57.11)
• Conservative Judaism, including its clergy and schools (e.g., YD II:106–107)
• Donating blood for pay (HM I:103)
• Education of girls (e.g., YD II:109, YD II:113 YD III:87.2)
• End-of-life medical care
• Eruv projects in New York City
• Financial ethics (HM II:29))
• Hazardous medical operations
• Heart transplantation (YD 2:174.3)
• Labor union and related employment privileges (e.g., HM I:59)
• Mehitza (esp. OH I:39)
• Mixed-seating on a subway or other public transportation (EH II:14)
• Psychiatric care (YD II:57)
• Separation of Siamese twins
• Shaking hands between men and women (OH I:113; EH I:56; EH IV:32)
• Smoking marijuana (YD III:35)
• Tay-Sachs fetus abortion, esp. in debate with Rabbi Eliezer Waldenberg
• Smoking cigarettes
• Veal raised in factory conditions (EH IV, 92:2)

Note: Responsa in Igrot Moshe are cited in parentheses