Rabbi Yisroel Feinberg

הרב ישראל ב״ר יחזקאל פיינבערג ז״ל
Rav of Beth Jacob for 22 years

Yahrzeit: 13 Adar I | יארצייט: י״ג אדר א׳
Kever Location: Beth Jacob Cemetery, also known as Doat Street Cemetery, entrance from Lansdale Place, Buffalo, NY 14211.

Overview

Rabbi Yisroel Feinberg Buffalo
Rabbi Yisroel Feinberg Buffalo Matzeivah

Rabbi Yisroel Feinberg, was the rav of Buffalo’s Congregation Beth Jacob, commonly called the Clinton Street Shul. A Talmudic scholar trained at Volozhin Yeshiva, he served Buffalo for approximately twenty-two years, until his passing in 1916. His earlier rabbinic work included service in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and as a dayan associated with Chief Rabbi Yaakov Yosef in New York. He is buried in Beth Jacob Cemetery, where his matzeivah honors his Torah scholarship.1

Early Years

Rabbi Yisroel Feinberg was born around 1854, to is father Reb Yechezkel. His precise birthplace has not been established. He studied at Volozhin Yeshiva, and the historical account of Beth Jacob remembers him as a Talmudist trained in that renowned institution.2

After coming to America, Rabbi Feinberg served as a dayan, a rabbinical judge, under Chief Rabbi Yaakov Yosef in New York. He subsequently served as a rav in Scranton, Pennsylvania, before moving to Buffalo.3

Rav of Buffalo’s Congregation Beth Jacob

Rabbi Feinberg’s Buffalo rabbinate began around 1894, based on the contemporary report that he served the city for twenty-two years before his passing in 1916.

His congregation, Beth Jacob, had been established in 1881 by families who separated from Congregation Bris Shalom. Its membership included Jews of Prussian, Lithuanian, and Polish origin, many with roots in Suwalki. By 1894, the congregation had built a synagogue at Clinton and Walnut Streets, listed at 380 Clinton Street. This location gave it the familiar name “Clinton Street Shul.”4

Passing and Burial in Beth Jacob Cemetery

Rabbi Yisroel Feinberg Buffalo Obituary Yiddish
Rabbi Yisroel Feinberg Obituary

Rabbi Feinberg passed away in February 1916, following an illness of approximately eight months. His matzeivah records his passing on 13 Adar I 5676.

A contemporary obituary in the Yiddishes Tageblatt, published on February 20, 1916, preserves a heartfelt tribute to Rabbi Yisroel Feinberg. Written by Moshe Wingrad, president of Congregation Beth Jacob, it recalls his rabbinic service and the affection and esteem in which he was held. The following is an English translation:

Rabbi Yisroel Feinberg of Buffalo Has Passed Away

(Special correspondence to the Yiddishes Tageblatt)

Buffalo, New York

The local rabbi, Rabbi Yisroel Feinberg, has passed away here at the age of 61, following an illness of eight months. Rabbi Feinberg served as a rabbi in Buffalo for 22 years. Before that, he served as a rabbi in Scranton, and as soon as he arrived in America, he served as a dayan under Chief Rabbi Yaakov Yosef.

Rabbi Feinberg was one of America’s greatest rabbis and was beloved and esteemed by all who knew him. Buffalo’s Jewish community deeply mourns the loss of its great rabbi.

Moshe Wingrad
President, Congregation Beis Yakkov (Beth Jacob)

Yiddishes Tageblatt, February 20, 1916, page 4.

He was buried in Beth Jacob Cemetery, the burial ground established by his congregation in 1882. The cemetery’s entrance is from Lansdale Place, beside Concordia Cemetery.5

Rabbi Feinberg’s matzeivah describes him as “הרב הגאון המופלג”—a rabbi of exceptional Torah scholarship—and places him among the distinguished rabbanim of his generation. It concludes with a dedication from the Feinberg family.

These words preserve the family’s tribute to a rav whose career connected the Torah learning of Eastern Europe with Jewish communal life in New York, Scranton, and Buffalo.

  1. Jewish Buffalo History Center, “Beth Jacob”; Yidishes Tageblatt, February 20, 1916, p. 4; Rabbi Feinberg’s matzeivah.
    The congregation’s history identifies his Volozhin background and association with Beth Jacob. The contemporary Yiddish obituary supplies his earlier rabbinic positions and the length of his Buffalo service. Links in following footnotes. ↩︎
  2. Find a Grave, “Rabbi Israel Feinberg”; Jewish Buffalo History Center, “Beth Jacob”; Hebrew gravestone inscription.
    Find a Grave lists 1854 and gives his birthplace broadly as Russia. His contemporary obituary reports that he died at sixty-one, consistent with a birth around 1854–1855. The gravestone names his father as יחזקאל. The congregation’s historical account supplies the information about his studies at Volozhin; it does not identify his teachers or the years he attended. 
    Find a Grave — Rabbi Israel Feinberg
    Jewish Buffalo History Center — Beth Jacob ↩︎
  3. Yidishes Tageblatt, February 20, 1916, p. 4.
    The obituary records both positions. It does not give his immigration year or the dates of his service in New York and Scranton. ↩︎
  4. Yidishes Tageblatt, February 20, 1916, p. 4; Jewish Buffalo History Center, “Beth Jacob,” cited in note 2.
    The approximate starting year 1894 is calculated from the obituary’s statement of twenty-two years of service; an appointment notice has not been located. The congregation’s history independently dates its Clinton Street building to 1894, but this does not establish that Rabbi Feinberg’s arrival coincided precisely with its opening. ↩︎
  5. Rabbi Feinberg’s matzeivah; Yidishes Tageblatt, February 20, 1916, p. 4; Kevarim.com; Find a Grave; Beth Jacob Cemetery National Register nomination draft.
    The gravestone clearly records י״ג אדר ראשון תרע״ו, corresponding to February 17, 1916, as listed by Kevarim.com. Find a Grave instead gives February 16. A death after sunset on February 16 could reconcile the dates, but the time of death has not been verified. The Hebrew date is therefore retained as the firmest basis for his yahrzeit. The cemetery nomination documents its establishment by 1882 and its entrance from Lansdale Place.
    Kevarim.com — Rabbi Yisroel Feinberg
    Find a Grave — Alternate civil date
    Beth Jacob Cemetery — Historical nomination document ↩︎