Born in New York City, New York, Edelstein received a Bachelor of Science degree and a Master of Arts degree from Fordham University, and a Bachelor of Laws from Fordham University School of Law.
He was an attorney in the Claims Division of the United States Department of Justice in 1944.
He was an Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York from 1945 to 1947.
He was a Special Assistant to the United States Attorney General of the Lands Division from 1947 to 1948, and an Assistant United States Attorney General of the Customs Division from 1948 to 1951.
[1] Edelstein received a recess appointment from President Harry S. Truman on November 1, 1951, to a seat on the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York vacated by Judge Alfred Conkling Coxe Jr.