Rav Yechiel Michel Feinstein

Early years

Rav Yechiel Michel Feinstein zt"l was born on 27 June 1906 in Uzda, near Minsk, then part of the Russian empire. His father, Rav Avrohom Yitzchok Feinstein, lived in the town. Left an orphan at seven, Yechiel Michel moved in with his grandfather, Rav Dovid Feinstein, the Rav of Uzda, and learned under him. During those years he also formed a close bond with his uncle, the famed Rav Moshe Feinstein.

Recognized early as a child prodigy, he was sent to nearby Slutsk to learn from its Rav, Rav Isser Zalman Meltzer, who cherished the young genius. When the Bolshevik revolution came, Rav Isser Zalman moved the Slutsk Yeshiva from Belarus to Lithuania, and his son-in-law Rav Aharon Kotler went along. For the next several years Rav Yechiel Michel attended the shiurim of Rav Isser Zalman and Rav Aharon faithfully.

Torah and leadership

At seventeen Rav Yechiel Michel left for Poland and the Mir yeshiva, and there he became a talmid of the great Mussar leader, Rav Yeruchom Levovitz. He also befriended Rav Dovid Povarsky, later the Rosh Yeshiva of Ponevez. The Mir also housed scholars such as Rav Chaim Shmuelevitz and Rav Aryeh Leib Malin, yet even among such luminaries Rav Yechiel Michel was regarded as the genius of the yeshiva.

On the advice of his mentor, Rav Isser Zalman, he went to Brisk in Belarus to learn under its Rav, Rav Yitzchok Zev Soloveichik. Fearing conscription into the army, he traveled to Radin to consult the Chofetz Chaim, Rav Yisrael Meir Kagan, who was astounded at the breadth of his knowledge of Gemara. He then spent half a year in Grodno learning under Rav Shimon Shkop and afterward returned to Brisk. He would return to the Mir for the summer months and for Elul.

When World War II broke out and many yeshivos relocated to Vilna, he went with the talmidim of the Mir. In Vilna he became a friend of the leader of European Jewry, Rav Chaim Ozer Grodzensky, who praised him highly. From Vilna he went on with the Mir Yeshiva, which journeyed to Japan to sit out the war.

In 1941 Rav Yechiel Michel arrived in the United States together with Rav Aharon Kotler. Rav Aharon founded a yeshiva in Lakewood, New Jersey. Rav Yechiel Michel was asked to take the post of mashgiach (spiritual supervisor) in Boston, at Yeshiva Heichal Rabbeinu Chaim Halevi, headed by Rav Joseph Dov Soloveichik. That same year, however, his uncle, Rav Moshe Feinstein, invited him to work alongside him as head of Mesivta Tiferes Yerushalayim on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, and he accepted. Before long his deep Gemara shiurim made him famous.

Agudas Harabbanim, under the leadership of Rav Eliezer Silver and Rav Moshe Feinstein, appointed him a member, and Rav Yechiel Michel took a vital part in rescuing refugees from Europe during the Holocaust.

Later years and passing

In 1946 Rav Yechiel Michel went to Eretz Yisroel to be reunited with his mentor, Rav Yitzchok Zev Soloveichik of Brisk, and he married the Brisker Rav's daughter, Lifsha. Rav Isser Zalman Meltzer, his former Rosh Yeshiva in Slutsk, who had also come to Eretz Yisroel, officiated at the chasuna.

In 1952 he moved to Tel Aviv to establish a yeshiva, and he often traveled to Bnei Brak to consult the Chazon Ish on important matters. In 1973 he relocated to Bnei Brak, opened a yeshiva there, and delivered more than seventeen complex shiurim every week.

Rav Yechiel Michel passed away on 16 Iyar 5763 (2003) in Bnei Brak.

Legacy

His many shiurim on the Gemara are being prepared for publication. Rav Yechiel Michel was also among the signers of the historic Kol Koreh of 1979 on behalf of the Rav Meir Baal Haneis Salant charity. The other signers included Rav Yaakov Kamenetsky, the Steipler (Rav Yaakov Yisroel Kanievsky), Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach, Rav Elazar Simcha Wasserman, Rav Dovid Povarsky, Rav Moshe Shmuel Shapiro and Rav Shmuel Birnbaum, among many others.