Moishe Mendel Feiner, 95, OBM

By COLlive reporter

Reb Moishe Menachem Mendel Feiner, a Lubavitcher chossid from Los Angeles who lived an extraordinary life of struggle and triumph, has passed away Thursday, 19 Elul 5772.

He was 95.

Born in the then-Polish village of Novychyna (today in western Ukraine), he was orphaned from his mother at the age of 2. Not long after he escaped to the nearby city of Belz to avoid the harsh treatment he got from his stepmother.

When the Belzer Rebbe R’ Aharon Rokeach discovered the young and lonely Moishe Mendel, he took him under his wing and appointed him the ‘Shtib bochur’ in charge of housekeeping the Beis Medrash for a decent salary.

Being a strong believer in Hashem and living on his own aided Feiner in surviving the horrors of the Second World War, during which most of the Jews he grew up with in the Lviv Oblast (province) were murdered.

Drafted to the Red Army to fight the German armed forces, Feiner used his uniform, and the high rank he achieved and military techniques he learned to save Jewish lives.

His family told COLlive.com of one such story when he was entrusted with guarding an orphanage of 50 Jewish children who survived the war, but lived under the constant fear of local anti Semitic mobs.

Feiner organized a routine where the children ran to the roof and threw down rocks and glass bottles to fend off attackers. In one such incident, the plan didn’t help.

“He saw that he could not do it alone so he fired with his machine gun into a Russian army camp nearby,” his son said. “The Russians came blazing out and got rid of the gang, thinking they dared to shoot at them.”

Another tale tells of a scheme to smuggle 180 Jews on a train posing as Greek citizens. Feiner’s impressive medals came into play when Lithuanian police arrested a boy from the group.

He stated that the group were his prisoners and that all 180 must be delivered – a claim that worked when a group of Russian soldiers passed by and offered to assist him in his ‘mission.’

A TIP FOR FEEDING KIDS

While living in the large DP camp in Pocking, Germany, he met and was inspired by the spirited Chabad chassidim, among them the Mashpia Reb Nissan Nemenov OBM.

Upon arriving in America, Moshe Mendel Feiner first met the Rebbe and although it was before he assumed leadership of Chabad-Lubavitch, Feiner asked the Rebbe for a bracha.

Since then the Rebbe took a personal and rare interest in Feiner’s life. His children tell of how the Rebbe would call to check up on things and even sent money to buy suspenders for one of the sons who didn’t fit into his clothes.

“My mother was very worried that I was skinny and not eating and asked the Rebbe what to do,” Yisroel Feiner says. “The Rebbe told her to tell stories during the meal and that increased my appetite.”

When Feiner’s wife Yente Perl became critically ill, the Rebbe called to say that the ‘yene machla’ was going to be transferred to a German hater of Jews instead and she miraculously recovered.

HELPING THE ‘ROSH’

The Feiner family’s move to Los Angeles –with the Rebbe’s blessings– has helped the pioneering work of the legendary Shliach Rabbi Shmuel David Raichik in establishing Chabad in California.

Feiner’s children remember Rabbi Raichik often visiting and asking for financial support and their home was where Head Shliach Rabbi Shlomo Cunin stayed when he first came to the West Coast.

The Rebbe had advised him to purchase real estate when times got tough. Even when Feiner couldn’t pay off the mortgage, the Rebbe told him to add the surrounding properties as well.

Listening to the Rebbe’s advice paid off when the city acquired the property for a planned freeway, but never ended up using it. The money was paid and the property is now home to the renowned Yeshiva Ohr Elchanan Chabad, headed by Rabbi Ezra Schochet.

ALWAYS WITH A SEFER

Notwithstanding owning a few retirement homes and properties, R’ Moshe Mendel had a strict learning schedule, often waking as early as 3:00am to learn Torah and chassidus. At the Shabbos table, on the other hand, he would tell stories of tzaddikim.

Once, one of his daughters asked the Rebbe to help her with finding a shidduch. The Rebbe replied: Tell your father to spend less time in the garden (which he did for relaxation) and more time with you.

The Rebbe blessed him for long life.

He is survived by his wife Yente Perl and their children Shmaryahu Feiner of Jerusalem, Yisroel Feiner of Los Angeles, Tzivia Weintraub of Los Angeles and Gittel Schwadron of Jerusalem; grandchildren and great grandchildren.

The levaya left Thursday from Yeshiva Ohr Elchonon Chabad in Los Angeles and will be passing by 770 Eastern Parkway at 11am on Friday. Kvurah will be on Har Menuchos in Jerusalem next week.

Baruch dayan haemes.