Rebbetzin Sheila (Chava Sora) Feinstein, z”l, lived a life of purpose. Whether as a loving wife, mother, bubby, sister, aunt, mother-in-law or a staunch educational professional, the rebbetzin thought and acted with deliberate sensitivity and attention to, as well as clarity with, everything she said and did.
The rebbetzin took in stride, yet understood thoroughly, her role as a leader amongst Torah women. Her lifestyle underscored the importance of weaving the holiness of Torah life together with the demands and expectations of a secular-society professional. Her dignified presence embodied the quintessential modesty of a stately yet deeply caring Orthodox Jewish woman. She was the paradigm of how to be private in public.
Being the principal of a NYC public school during the last several decades is no job for the faint of heart, let alone the typical Orthodox Jewish woman. But typical never described the amazing person that Rebbetzin Feinstein was.
She lived the principles of the Torah in a Torah world, but she also brought them forward into her professional world with grace and conviction. The students and teachers she marshaled in her role of public school administrator enjoyed both the principled professionalism of a master educator and the quiet but sure rudder of Torah wisdom. Following her retirement from public school administration, she seamlessly glided into that role in Jewish education—a natural transition.
In yeshiva, the rebbetzin was the “eim bayis” for thousands of young students who passed through the doors of Mesivtha Tifereth Jerusalem in Staten Island. Her loving care and concern for the needs of the young men and the staff are legendary. Described in Principal Rabbi Weiss’ hesped, the rebbetzin was not only a home-away-from-home mother to the students, but also “…a tower of strength and a fortress of steel.”
The rebbetzin’s impact on the women of the world Torah community is also widely known. The pride she instilled in others, and in particular girls and women, was palpable. The inspiration she felt from the mesorah of Torah and our Torah personalities was imparted to others through her teaching, speaking and leading an exemplary life committed to those values. She not only learned from the example of her predecessors, but also taught by example.
Her absence now seems incomprehensible, with this void felt by girls and women, her family of yeshiva students and staff and especially by her husband, the rosh yeshiva, Harav Reuven Feinstein shlita, and her dear children and grandchildren, for whom she was a beacon of light and love.
We join in mourning, along with the rosh yeshiva, their children and the extended Feinstein family, the gracious matriarch Rebbetzin Chava Sora Feinstein, z”l.
May she be a meilitz yosher for her wonderful family and all of klal Yisrael.
Yehi nishmata baruch.
By Ellie Wolf
