Moshe Aharon Poleyeff (1888 – 1966) was an American rabbi, teaching at Yeshiva University (YU) in New York where he was a Rosh Yeshiva for over 45 years, training generations of rabbis, including Mordechai Gifter.
Biography Poleyeff was born in 1888, in Timkovitz, near Slutsk, south of Minsk, Belarussee TALK page re "1967" (vs. 1966, the documented date. The Hesped was Dec. 5, 1966; passing was Nov. 15, 1966. (White Russia).
He was a student of Rabbi Isser Zalman Meltzer, by whom he was ordained in 1910. He married Rochel in 1912.
Poleyeff arrived in the United States in 1920, and immediately began a teaching career at Yeshiva University in New York, where for about 46 years he was a YU/RIETS Roshei Yeshiva and had thousands of students. His "Thursday Shiur" teaching methodology incorporated a student-presented topic, followed by discussion; he helped the student prepare the prior week or two.
Poleyeff died 2 Kislev 5727 (November 1966).
Works Machaneh YisroelPublished 1930 in Warsaw, Poland, despite already living in the USA since 1920. Be'er Avraham Ohr HaShemesh Orach Mishor(also reprinted posthumously)
References
From Washington Avenue to Washington Street, by Aaron Rakefet-Rothkoff. Gefen Publishing House, 2011 ( and 9789652299857). Rebbi: The Memoirs of Rabbi Moshe Aharon Poleyeff (1995)
External links YU archive article