Rabbi Moshe Rosenstain ( he, רבי משה רוזנשטיין 1881–1940) was an

Orthodox Jewish Orthodox Judaism is the collective term for the traditionalist and theologically conservative branches of contemporary Judaism. Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Written and Oral, as revealed by God to Moses on M ...

rabbi A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as ''semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of ...

in pre-World War II Eastern Europe. He served as

mashgiach ruchani A mashgiach ruchani ( he, משגיח רוחני; pl., ''mashgichim ruchani'im'') or mashgicha ruchani – sometimes mashgiach/mashgicha for short – is a spiritual supervisor or guide. He or she is usually a rabbi who has an official position wit ...

in the

Lomza Yeshiva The Lomza Yeshiva ( he, ישיבת לומזה) was an Orthodox Jewish yeshiva in Łomża, Poland, founded by Rabbi Eliezer Bentzion Shulevitz in 1883. Rabbi Yechiel Mordechai Gordon served as the yeshiva's rosh yeshiva for many years, and Rabbi Mo ...

in Poland.

Early life

Rabbi Rosenstain was born in Uzvent,

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

in 1881. As a teenage student, he studied in the

Telshe Yeshiva Telshe Yeshiva (also spelled ''Telz'') is a yeshiva in Wickliffe, Ohio, formerly located in Telšiai, Lithuania. During World War II the yeshiva began relocating to Wickliffe, Ohio, in the United States and is now known as the Rabbinical College ...

under Rabbi

Shimon Shkop Shimon Yehuda Shkop ( he, שמעון שקופ; 1860 – October 22, 1939) was a rosh yeshiva (dean) of the Yeshiva of Telshe and then of Yeshiva Shaar HaTorah of Grodno, and a Talmid Chacham (Talmudic scholar). Early life Shkop was born in T ...

. Rabbi Rosenshtain's mother was the

shadchan The ''Shidduch'' ( he, שִׁדּוּךְ, pl. ''shidduchim'' , Aramaic ) is a system of matchmaking in which Jewish singles are introduced to one another in Orthodox Jewish communities for the purpose of marriage. The practice In the past and ...

(matchmaker) between their next door neighbor and R'

Yerucham Levovitz Rav Yeruchom Levovitz ( he, ירוחם ליוואוויץ; ca. 1875-1936), also known by his hundreds of students simply as The Mashgiach, was a famous mashgiach ruchani and baal mussar (Jewish Ethics) at the Mir yeshiva in Belarus. Early life ...

, who would later become the

mashgiach A mashgiach ( he, משגיח, "supervisor"; , ''mashgichim'') or mashgicha (pl. ''mashgichot'') is a Jew who supervises the kashrut status of a kosher establishment. Mashgichim may supervise any type of food service establishment, including sl ...

in the Mir Yeshiva. At age nineteen, Moshe came home from yeshiva for

Pesach Passover, also called Pesach (; ), is a major Jewish holiday that celebrates the The Exodus, Biblical story of the Israelites escape from slavery in Egypt, which occurs on the 15th day of the Hebrew month of Nisan, the first month of Aviv, or ...

and met R' Yerucham, with whom he became very close to in the ensuing weeks and months. R' Yerucham was a major baal mussar (literally "master of ethics," here referring to someone who studies ethical works intensely and works tirelessly in self-improvement), a product of the

Kelm Talmud Torah The Kelm Talmud Torah was a famous yeshiva in pre-holocaust Kelmė, Lithuania. Unlike other yeshivas, the Talmud Torah focused primarily on the study of Musar ("Jewish ethics") and self-improvement. Under the Leadership of Simcha Zissel Ziv The ...

, and shared

Torah The Torah (; hbo, ''Tōrā'', "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. In that sense, Torah means the s ...

thoughts with Moshe. Three years later, Rabbi Levovitz brought him to learn in the

. He grew to become a major teacher of mussar.

Lomza Yeshiva

In 1912, Rabbi Rosenstain was appointed

of the

in Poland, a position he held for the rest of his life. His saintliness and integrity in the yeshiva was part of what made it unique. In fact, he fasted for thirty years, eating only at night after completing

maariv ''Maariv'' or ''Maʿariv'' (, ), also known as ''Arvit'' (, ), is a Jewish prayer service held in the evening or night. It consists primarily of the evening ''Shema'' and '' Amidah''. The service will often begin with two verses from Psalms, ...

, and on

Shabbos Shabbat (, , or ; he, שַׁבָּת, Šabbāṯ, , ) or the Sabbath (), also called Shabbos (, ) by Ashkenazim, is Judaism's day of rest on the seventh day of the week—i.e., Saturday. On this day, religious Jews remember the biblical storie ...

and holidays. He walked down the aisle between the

shtender A lectern is a reading desk with a slanted top, on which documents or books are placed as support for reading aloud, as in a scripture reading, lecture, or sermon. A lectern is usually attached to a stand or affixed to some other form of support. ...

s in the yeshiva's ''

beis midrash A ''beth midrash'' ( he, בית מדרש, or ''beis medrash'', ''beit midrash'', pl. ''batei midrash'' "House of Learning") is a hall dedicated for Torah study, often translated as a "study hall." It is distinct from a synagogue (''beth kness ...

'' (study hall) for hours, and the Lomza yeshiva's beis midrash was exceedingly long. He explained, "It takes me many hours of thinking to come up with one pure thought." Rabbi Rosenstain slept in the yeshiva's dormitory during the week. He was also very involved in helping his students when the Polish government wanted to draft yeshiva students. His ''

sefarim ''Sifrei Kodesh'' ( he, ספרי קודש, , Holy books), commonly referred to as ''sefarim'' ( he, ספרים, , books), or in its singular form, ''sefer'', are books of Jewish religious literature and are viewed by religious Jews as sacred. T ...

'', Yesodei Hadas and Ahavas Meisharim, contain transcripts of his ''mussar'' talks. He died the day before

in 1940, at the age of 59.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rosenstain, Moshe Mashgiach ruchani 1881 births 1959 deaths Musar movement Polish Haredi rabbis Rabbis from Lomza 20th-century Polish rabbis