THE CAMPAIGN TO DISCREDIT RABBI MOSHE FEINSTEIN

After being offered an obscure book called Maaneh Le'igros by a bookdealer, Rabbi Dunner stumbles across the long-forgotten story of a concerted campaign to undermine the halachic authority and status of Rabbi Moshe Feinstein during the 1960s. Rabbi Dunner charts the ups-and-downs of this fascinating kulturkampf, later abortively reignited by the author of Maaneh Le’igros in 1973. In this fascinating lecture, discover how the lines were drawn for orthodox Jewry as the first generation of Holocaust survivors struggled to recreate the lost world of pre-war European orthodoxy.

08/06/2019 RABBI DUNNER ADDS: A number of viewers have pointed out that Rav Moshe, in three published teshuvos, prohibited shaking hands with women and questioned those rabbis who permitted it. These queries are justified -- my apologies for implying that Rav Moshe allowed this "lechatchila". However, many talmidim of Rav Moshe have confirmed (some to me personally) that although he was reluctant to go on record on this issue, he would allow business handshaking in certain situations. This is confirmed in Mesoret Moshe (1:EH #56) published by Rav Moshe’s grandson, where Rav Moshe is quoted as permitting shaking hands with a woman to perform the kinyan of mechirat chametz. Aditionally, Rav Getzel Ellinson, in his comprehensive work on “Women and Mitzvot” (Vol. 2, Ch. 2, FN #86) writes that he clarified the issue with Rav Moshe personally. Rav Moshe made a distinction between extending a hand (which he said was unequivocally prohibited) and returning a handshake which he found difficult to openly permit, but which he acknowledged was both done and permitted by pious individuals. Actually, if you look at Rav Moshe's teshuvos, he says that one is prohibited "lehoshit yad" -- to extend one's hand -- implying that if a hand is extended to a man by a woman he may take it. From another talmid of Rav Moshe I heard that any such handshake shouldn't be a grip, but the hand should remain limp, so that it is in the category of "karka olam", based on the gemara in Megilla about Esther and Achashveirosh. Once again, I apologize for implying in the video that this was lechatchila, and I hope the above clarifies the details.