Be'er Moshe

By Rabbi Yitzchok Adlerstein
From the Targumim Series – Subscribe to the Series

Be’er Moshe is a remarkable work by the Ozherover Rebbe, Rav Moshe Yechiel Halevi Epstein zt”l (1890-1971). While heavily invested in the Zohar and other kabbalistic literature, Be’er Moshe frequently picks up on issues of pshat that were not noticed by others. And more often than not, the Rebbe insists on articulating the mussar principle that we should take away from a maamar Chazal.

In 1920, the Rebbe traveled to America to publicize the importance of Agudas Yisroel, and in 1927, he moved his family to the Bronx. He moved to Eretz Yisroel in 1949 and settled in Tel Aviv after first living in Bnei Brak, close to the Chazon Ish. His beis medrash still functions today in Tel Aviv.

Rav Moshe Yechiel wrote two major works, Aish Das (11 volumes), and Be’er Moshe, (12 volumes) on Chumash and Tanach. Each volume contains at least 500 pages, adding up to over 10,000 pages in all. In 1968, he received the Israel Prize, in the category of Torah literature.

The Rebbe’s seforim are upbeat, and stress the good that can come out of even the bad. He preached relating to secular Jews with love, to draw them close.