Two Letters from Rabbi Moshe Feinstein – Cheshvan, 1972 – "…Whoever Said That in My Name… Is Lying or Heard from ...

Two Letters from Rabbi Moshe Feinstein – Cheshvan, 1972 – "…Whoever Said That in My Name… Is Lying or Heard from Liars, and Every G-d-Fearing Person Should Not Rely on Halachic Rulings Attributed to Me… Rumors Cannot be Relied Upon, and One Must Ask in Person if He Wants to Know the Truth…"

Lengthy letter (two leaves) handwritten and signed by R. David Peretz, a teacher and student at the Long Island yeshiva, with two halachic queries sent to R. Moshe Feinstein. New York, [fall 1972].

The end of each leaf contains the responsa letters handwritten and signed by R. Moshe Feinstein. New York, 10th Cheshvan 1972.

The first question R. Peretz asked relates to a rumor he had heard in the name of R. Moshe Feinstein that there was no prohibition to listen to multiple women singing together as a choir. R. Feinstein answers (8 lines handwritten and signed): "…It makes no difference whether one woman is singing or a choir; it is all prohibited. And whoever said in my name that there is a leniency for many women in a choir is either lying or heard from liars, and every G-d-fearing person should not rely on halachic rulings attributed to me, for it is known that among our many sins, there are many prohibitions taken lightly, and rumors should not be relied upon, and one must ask in person if he wants to know the truth…" [see further on R. Moshe Feinstein's discussion of this halachic issue: Masoret Moshe, II, p. 327; IV, p. 369].

On the second leaf R. Peretz raises the issue of someone who habitually prayed in the yeshiva of R. Abba Mordechai Berman, whose son was to receive a Torah aliyah for his bar mitzvah. He asks whether a Sephardi bar mitzvah boy is allowed to read the Torah in an Ashkenazi accent, as well as other questions relating to Torah reading and public prayer. On the second leaf R. Moshe Feinstein responds at length (16 lines handwritten and signed): "Your son the bar mitzvah boy, if he wishes to read the Torah portion publicly, must read in an Ashkenazi accent like that of the synagogue community, and he thereby also fulfills his own obligation…". He adds that although they would fulfill their obligation with any accent, "it is forbidden to diverge from the accent of the community where he is and to whom he is reading, as it is no different than changing any custom, which is forbidden. But when he is praying by himself he should pray in his ancestral accent. Therefore, since every bar mitzvah boy reads from the Torah, his son can also read from the Torah". Towards the end of the responsum R. Moshe adds a piece of advice for the bar mitzvah boy: "It is a good thing to study a tractate to finish on the bar mitzvah, and it is good to add this".

This responsum regarding changing the accent of a bar mitzvah boy was printed in Igrot Moshe, Orach Chaim IV, section 23 – in the middle of another responsum dated 1969 to another querent by the name of R. Yaakov Dardak [apparently the editors of Igrot Moshe mistakenly believed the present responsum was a continuation of the responsum to R. Yaakov Dardak. Interestingly, the editor of Yagel Yaakov, Jerusalem 2006, published by R. Yaakov Dardak's family, notes (p. 266, note 357) that the responsum was not present in R. Moshe Feinstein's manuscript, and surmises that the other responsum was an answer to a question his father had asked R. Moshe Feinstein orally].

R. Moshe Feinstein (1895-1986), foremost halachic authority in the United States. A leader of Orthodox Jewry, he served as president of the Union of Orthodox Rabbis of the United States and Canada, and chairman of the Moetzet Gedolei HaTorah. He was the dean of the Tiferet Yerushalayim yeshiva in New York. He authored Responsa Igrot Moshe, Dibrot Moshe – Talmudic novellae, and Darash Moshe – novellae on the Torah.

2 leaves, official stationery (of the Long Island yeshiva), written on both sides. 28 cm. Good condition. Folding marks.