| Chief Rabbi of Harbin | |
| Began: | 1913 |
| Ended: | 1949 |
| Other Post: | Chief Rabbi of the Far East 1937-1949 |
| Birth Date: | 18 September 1866 |
| Birth Place: | Surazh, Russian Empire |
| Death Place: | Harbin, Soviet Zone |
| Alma Mater: | Volozhin Yeshiva |
| Semicha: | Rabbi Chaim Ozer Grodzinski |
Aharon Moshe Kiselev (1866–1949) was a Russian-born Manchurian rabbi.
Kiselev was born in Surazh, Chernigov district. In his youth, he excelled in his studies, and was known as the “Vietker Illui”. He later studied in Minsk, and in Volozhin under the tutelage of Rabbi Chaim Soloveitchik. He was the rabbi of Barysaw from 1900 to 1913.
In 1913, he was appointed chief rabbi of Harbin, and tasked with overseeing Jewish cultural, educational, and social activities.[1]
In 1915, detractors of Kiselev reported his efforts to aid German refugees in Harbin as collaboration with the enemy. He was detained for 2 months.[2]
Following the death of the notorious bandit kingpin Ataman Woliewski, it was discovered that he had been planning to abduct Kiselev, with the hope of exacting a large ransom from the Jewish community.[3]
In December 1937, at the first annual Far Eastern Jewish Conference, he was declared ‘Chief Rabbi of the Far East’.[4]
As leader of the Harbin chapter of Agudas Chasidei Chabad, Kiselev assisted many wartime Jewish refugees who had fled German-occupied Europe.[5]