JUDAICA - Wisdom In Torah

feinman, sigmund
was. Thus, Feingold was widely outspent. Characteristically,
he made light of his lack of Jewish support, expressing shock
that his support for Israel and Jewish bona-fides were called
into question. “I am the only candidate for the Senate whose
sister is a rabbi living in Israel,” he would say. Feingold made
his modest support a badge of honor. He won a surprising
victory.
In the Senate Feingold was a fiscal hawk, attacking unwarranted
expenditures in the federal budget. His national
prominence came from his co-sponsorship with Senator John
McCain of the McCain-Feingold bill that attempted to limit
campaign spending and soft-money contributions. They did
not succeed in passing their bill during his first term. Feingold
placed stringent restrictions on his own fundraising for reelection.
Caught in a close race, he refused an offer of $500,000
from the Democratic National Committee and voters gave
him a narrow victory. McCain-Feingold finally became law
early in the Bush Administration. And once again in his reelection
bid of 2004, Feingold held fast to his own standards
despite serious political opposition.
His positions were generally liberal. Feingold voted
against an antiterrorism measure because he objected to
its provisions regarding inmates on death row. He fought a
constitutional amendment to prohibit flag burning in keeping
with Wisconsin’s progressive tradition. He was an early
and consistent opponent of the war in Iraq, believing that it
diverted attention from the fight against terrorism. Though
Wisconsin had fewer than 30,000 Jews it was represented by
a second Jewish senator as well, Herbert *Kohl.
Bibliography: L.S. Maisel and I. Forman, Jews in American
Politics (2001); K.F. Stone, The Congressional Minyan: The Jews
of Capitol Hill (2002).
[Michael Berenbaum (2nd ed.)]
FEINMAN, SIGMUND (1862–1909), Yiddish actor-manager.
Born near Kishinev, Feinman acted in Bessarabia and Romania,
went to New York in 1886, and worked with *Adler, *Mogulesko,
and *Kessler, doing his best work in Jacob Gordin’s
plays. Returning to Europe in 1906, he and his wife Dinah
(formerly married to Jacob Adler) established a reputation in
London and on the Continent. He played Othello in Romania,
1909, and died while rehearsing in Lodz. Manuscripts of Feinman’s
own plays and translations were acquired by the *YIVO
Institute. His wife DINAH FEINMAN (1862–1946) acted in A
Doll’s House, Mirele Efros, and La Dame aux Camélias.
FEINSINGER, JOSHUA (Shaye; 1839–1872), Russian ḥazzan.
Born in Lithuania, Feinsinger was taught singing by his father,
himself a ḥazzan. After completing his musical training, he
became chief ḥazzan in the Polish town of Leczyca. In 1868
he was appointed chief ḥazzan in Vilna. Possessing a phenomenal
voice and originality of expression, Feinsinger became
famous as one of the greatest ḥazzanim of the mid-19th
century. His most notable compositions were for the *Yoẓer
prayers for the Sefirah Sabbaths.
FEINSTEIN, ARYEH LOEB (1821–1903), Lithuanian scholar
and writer. Feinstein was born in Damachev near Brest-
Litovsk. He was a successful businessman in that city, active
in communal affairs, and wrote a history of its Jewish community,
Ir Tehillah (1886, repr. 1968). He also published a
Passover Haggadah with commentary, Talpiyyot (1870), and
a commentary on Psalms under the same title (1896). Among
his other works are Migdal David (1895), on talmudic discussions
of David and his dynasty; Divrei Ḥakhamim ve-Ḥidotam
(1895), on the *Rabbah b. Bar Ḥana tales; and Elef ha-Magen
(1900), linguistic studies.
Bibliography: Kressel, Leksikon, 2 (1967), 626–7; EG, 2
(1955), index.
FEINSTEIN, DIANNE GOLDMAN (1933– ), U.S. Democratic
senator from California. Feinstein was a centrist legislator
and a pioneering politician. She was the first woman to
be elected president of San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors
(1969), mayor of San Francisco (1978), nominated by a major
party for governor of California (1990), elected U.S. senator
from California (1992), and appointed to the Senate Judiciary
Committee (1993).
The daughter of Dr. Leon Goldman, a prominent surgeon,
and his wife Betty (Rosenburg), Feinstein started a public service
career at a young age. Born and raised in San Francisco,
she attended Stanford University where she won her first election
as vice president of the Student Body. Upon graduation in
1955 she was awarded a Coro Foundation fellowship to study
public policy. Five years later the governor appointed her to
the California Women’s Board of Terms and Parole, where she
served until 1966. Elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors
in 1969, Feinstein served for nine years, five years as
Board president. She was serving in this capacity in 1978 when
Mayor George Moscone was assassinated in his city hall office.
Feinstein became the acting mayor. A year later, she was
elected in her own right, serving the city from 1978 to 1988
when term limits forced her from office. In 1990 the Democratic
Party nominated Feinstein for governor, she was narrowly
defeated. Two years later, California voters sent her to
the U.S. Senate to fill two years of a vacated seat; she was subsequently
elected to full six-year terms in 1994 and 2000.
For much of her career Feinstein focused on crime prevention.
As mayor of San Francisco she cut the crime rate 27
percent. A successful advocate for victims of crime and crime
prevention, she was instrumental in passing the Gun-Free
Schools Act (1994); the Hate Crimes Sentencing Enforcement
Act (1993); the Comprehensive Methamphetamine Control
Act (1996); and the Assault Weapons Ban 1994–2004. Supportive
of the Jewish community, Feinstein was a member of
Congregation Emanu-El in San Francisco, California, where
she was confirmed.
Bibliography: A.F. Kahn and G. Matthews, “120 Years of
Women’s Activism,” in: A.F. Kahn and M. Dollinger (eds.), California
Jews (2003).
[Ava F. Kahn (2nd ed.)]
740 ENCYCLOPAEDIA JUDAICA, Second Edition, Volume 6