He was business partner first of Abraham Goldfaden and later of Sigmund Mogulesko (the greatest Yiddish star of the generation)[2] and, for a time, was married to prima donna Annetta Schwartz.
Together, they dominated Yiddish theatre in Bucharest in the early 1880s and in New York City in the late 1880s and into the 1890s, with a repertoire based mainly in the works of Joseph Lateiner and Moses Horowitz.
They had two children, but their relationship was always troubled and eventually Emma Finkel left her husband and began divorce proceedings.
At the same time, Moishe Finkel's business partnership with Jacob Adler, which entailed managing the Grand Theatre together, ended with a bitter dispute and a legal battle for control of the theatre eventually settled in Adler's favor.
Emma Thomashefsky Finkel lived partially paralyzed for a number of years, and continued to act in roles that could be played sitting down.