Moshe Rosenstein

Moshe ben Chaim Rosenstein was born in Užventis, Lithuania in 1880 and died on 10 April 1941 (13 Nissan 5701) in Plunge, Lithuania.^[1]

He studied in the Telzer Yeshiva in Lithuania initially under Eliezer Gordon and Shimon Shkop, and later at the Kelme Talmud Torah in Lithuania, where he was a pupil of Simcha Zissel Ziv (Broide), Rabbi Nochum Zev Ziv, Rabbi Tzvi Broide, and Yeruchim Leibowitz of the Mirrer Yeshiva.^[2]

He later became the Mashgiach Ruchani (spiritual mentor) in the Lomza Yeshiva, Poland together with the Rosh Yeshiva Yechiel Michel Gordon. In 1939, when Germany occupied Poland he immediately moved all Lomza Yeshiva to Plunge (Plungian) in Lithuania. He wrote two books of Mussar, “Yesodei Hada’as” and “Ahavas Meishorim” which were reprinted in 2002 after being out of print for many years.

Rosenstein had a sister Sarah that married Rabbi Chaim Tzvi Herson who became the Chief Rabbi of Winnipeg, Canada, a sister, Masha Tabatznik, and a brother Velva Rosenstein who married Pesha Katz. R. Velva's great grandson, Hugh Raichlin of South Africa, reprinted the books of Mussar mentioned above. Rosenstein had a wife, two daughters and a son and several grandchildren all of whom along with other 1800 yews of Plunge were killed at Kausenai near Plunge on July 18–19, 1941, by the local Lithuanian nazis.

The second part of r. Moshe Rosenstein's book "Основы знания" (The basics of knowledge), 1937, was published by the Lithuanian Yewish Community in Russian language in Vilnius, Lithuania in 2013.

References