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Telshe yeshiva
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Telshe yeshiva was a famous Eastern European yeshiva founded in the Lithuanian town of Telšiai. After World War II the yeshiva relocated to Wickliffe, Ohio in the United States and is currently known as the Rabbinical College of Telshe, (commonly referred to as Telz Yeshiva or Telz in short.) It is one of the most prominent Haredi institutions of Torah study.
yeshiva was founded in 1875 in the town of Telšiai ("Telshe" in Russian or "Telz" in Yiddish) to provide for the religious educational needs of young Jewish men in Telshe and its surrounding towns.
The yeshiva was established by three important Orthodox rabbis and Talmudists - Rabbi Meir Atlas, later the Rabbi of Shavel and the father-in-law of Rabbi Elchonon Wasserman, Rabbi Zvi Yaakov Oppenheim who later became the Rabbi of Kelm and Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Abel, the brother-in-law of Rabbi Shimon Shkop.
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Telshe yeshiva was a famous Eastern European yeshiva founded in the Lithuanian town of Telšiai. After World War II the yeshiva relocated to Wickliffe, Ohio in the United States and is currently known as the Rabbinical College of Telshe, (commonly referred to as Telz Yeshiva or Telz in short.) It is one of the most prominent Haredi institutions of Torah study.
History
The yeshiva was founded in 1875 in the town of Telšiai ("Telshe" in Russian or "Telz" in Yiddish) to provide for the religious educational needs of young Jewish men in Telshe and its surrounding towns.
The yeshiva was established by three important Orthodox rabbis and Talmudists - Rabbi Meir Atlas, later the Rabbi of Shavel and the father-in-law of Rabbi Elchonon Wasserman, Rabbi Zvi Yaakov Oppenheim who later became the Rabbi of Kelm and Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Abel, the brother-in-law of Rabbi Shimon Shkop. They received financial assistance from a Jewish banker in Berlin - Mr. Ovadyah Lachman.
Rabbi Eliezer Gordon
In 1884, Rabbi Eliezer Gordon was appointed as both the rav (head rabbi) of Telz and its rosh yeshiva ("dean/head of the yeshiva"). Rabbi Gordon was a brilliant Talmudist and expert in Torah law. A student of Rabbi Yisrael Salanter, Rabbi Gordon had been appointed by Rabbi Salanter as a maggid shiur (lecturer) in Rabbi Salanter's yeshiva at a young age. He also served as rabbi in Kelm, and for a brief time in Slabodka.
Rabbi Gordon was not satisfied with a yeshiva that served only the younger students in Telz and the vicinity, and set himself to the task of expanding it.
In 1884 Rabbi Gordon added his son-in-law, Rabbi Yosef Leib Bloch to the faculty and in 1885 he acquired the talents of Rabbi Shimon Shkop.
Both Rabbi Bloch and Rabbi Shkop were innovators in the field of Jewish education, each pioneering new methods and approaches to the study of the Torah (Hebrew Bible), Talmud and Halakha (Jewish law). Together, their methodical formulae set down the foundation for what became known in the world of Torah study as the Telzer Derekh ( the "Telzer approach").
Rabbi Gordon instituted various innovations, which were cause for a rapid increase in the student body. Among them were designating lectures for specific student levels. Whereas other contemporary yeshivas provided one level of study for all students, Telz provided students with lectures commensurate with a student’s age and understanding. When a student’s standard had advanced, he would advance to the next shiur (class-level). The benefits of such a system are self-explanatory and this system was soon integrated into the structure of almost all yeshivas and remains the accepted structure in most yeshivas worldwide. There were five different shiurim at Telz; Rabbi Gordon delivered the highest shiur.
The yeshiva was originally housed in a building provided by the Telz community; however, student numbers increased so dramatically that larger premises were called for. Subsequently, in 1894 the yeshiva moved into a new purpose-built building. In the same year, the yeshiva added a new subject of study - mussar ("Jewish ethics"). Prior to this, the study of mussar had been a students’ personal prerogative; now, it was a part of the yeshiva curriculum. A new faculty position was created: mussar mashgiach (teacher of ethics). The yeshiva’s first mussar mashgiach was Rabbi Ben Zion Kranitz, a student of Rabbi Simcha Zissel Ziv. Rabbi Kranitz was very mild mannered, and did not force his students to accept the mussar approach. In 1897, however, Rabbi Gordon engaged a new mussar mashgiach - the dynamic Rabbi Leib Chasman, who instituted a very strict mussar regime in the yeshiva. Many of the students opposed this approach, which caused dissent among the student body. Rabbi Chasman later achieved world renown as the senior mussar mashgiach at the Hebron Yeshiva in Jerusalem.
In 1902, Rabbi Shimon Shkop left the yeshiva to fill the position of rabbi to the community of Breinsk, Lithuania. In 1905 Rabbi Chaim Rabinowitz joined the yeshiva to fill the void left by Rabbi Shkop’s departure. Prior to his appointment at Telz, Rabbi Rabinowitz had served as rabbi to the town of Meishad, and later as a maggid shiur ("lecturer") at the Knesses Beis Yitzchak yeshiva in Kovno, Lithuania. As with his predecessor, Rabbi Rabinowitz innovated a unique style of Talmudic analysis, which further added to the yeshiva’s reputation.
In 1910, whilst fundraising for the yeshiva in London, Rabbi Gordon suffered a heart attack and passed away. His twenty-nine years as head of the yeshiva had seen a small town institution grow into a world famous center of Talmudic study. He had stamped his imprint onto the lives of hundreds of young men, many of whom were great Talmudists in their own right. Among his students were: Rabbi Yosef Shlomo Kahaneman, Rabbi Elchonon Wasserman, Rabbi Zvi Pesach Frank and Rabbi Yehezkel Abramsky and others who in turn left their imprint on Jewish society and culture.
Rabbi Yosef Leib Bloch
Following Rabbi Gordon’s passing, his son-in-law, Rabbi Yosef Leib Bloch assumed the mantle of leadership as both rabbi to the community and rosh yeshiva.
Not only was Rabbi Bloch an innovator in the realms of Talmudic analysis, he also possessed a unique approach to Torah study and Jewish philosophy. During Rabbi Gordon’s lifetime, Rabbi Bloch had left the yeshiva’s direction to him, however, with his elevation to dean of the yeshiva, Rabbi Bloch was free to guide the school in the direction and manner of his choice.
Rabbi Bloch did not regard his obligation to enhance educational standards as being limited to the yeshiva itself, and in 1920, he established in Telz primary schools for both boys and girls. In the same year, Rabbi Bloch added a mechina ("preparatory school"
) to the yeshiva. Previously, older students would tutor younger students who entered the yeshiva but were not up to the standard of the lowest class. The mechina was structured in the same fashion as the yeshiva itself with four levels of classes commensurate with the different levels of student advancement. At the time, the notion of a yeshiva possessing its own preparatory school was novel. Today, however, it has become an accepted norm, something Rabbi Bloch pioneered.
In addition to studying an easier version of the yeshiva curriculum, the mechina also featured secular studies, another innovation at the time. This was cause for opposition from the ranks of many rabbis, who were unaccustomed to the idea of secular studies occupying a position in any form of yeshiva. In 1924, however, the Lithuanian government announced its decision to accredit only those rabbinical colleges that possessed a secular studies department. The Rabbinical College of Telshe was the only such institute. It is to be stressed, though, that secular studies did not occupy a place in the yeshiva itself, but only in its mechina.
1922 saw the founding of a kollel ("postgraduate institute"), the aim of which was to train graduates for the rabbinate. Admission was not easy; a student had to display great promise and the institute soon became known as an exclusive school for higher studies. Rabbi Chaim Mordechai Katz, a son-in-law of Rabbi Bloch served as dean (rosh hakollel).
In 1918, a teachers training institute had been established in Kovno; however, the seminary did not achieve much success. The faculty of the academy turned to Rabbi Bloch, renowned for his pedagogical prowess, to take it over, and, in 1925 The Yavneh School for the Training of Teachers reopened in Telz under the auspices of The Rabbinical College of Telshe. This served as a postgraduate institute, with the charter of producing teachers for Jewish schools. The curriculum at the teacher’s institute included educational skills, Hebrew Bible, Talmud, the Hebrew language and literature and mathematics. The school succeeded in supplying qualified and trained teachers of a high caliber not only to the communities of Lithuania, but also to those of greater Europe.
For many years the Jewish community in Lithuania had lacked a structured educational system for teenage girls. Rabbi Bloch felt that such a concept was called for and in 1927 a high school department for girls was established in Telshe. The school found immediate praise and support from many rabbis and community leaders who saw the immense value that such an institute had to offer.
In 1930, a sister institute to The Yavneh Teacher’s Training Institute was opened, offering a two year course to young women who wished to enter the field of education. Like its counterpart, the female division of the school succeeded in producing many high quality teachers who branched out across Europe.
These various schools were all incorporated as a part of The Rabbinical College of Telshe. Thus, under Rabbi Bloch’s leadership, the yeshiva grew to include young primary school students through to qualified professionals, ready to embark on careers in the rabbinate and Jewish education.
A committee was established for the publication of the lectures (shiurim) delivered in the yeshiva and subsequently, the lectures of Rabbi Bloch and Rabbi Rabinowitz were circulated and studied in other yeshivas. The popular acceptance of their novellae in the yeshiva world today, is due much to their circulation in the pre-Holocaust yeshiva world.
In October 1930, Rabbi Yosef Leib Bloch died, and his second oldest son, Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak Bloch succeeded him as both Rabbi to the community and rosh yeshiva.
Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak Bloch
At the time of Rabbi Yosef Leib Bloch’s passing, his son Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak Bloch was only thirty eight years old; however, he had been lecturing in the yeshiva since 1926 and had already acquired a name as one of the greatest minds in the rabbinic world.
Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak Bloch’s two brothers: Rabbi Zalman Bloch and Rabbi Eliyahu Meir Bloch also occupied positions within the yeshiva. All remained dedicated to continuing with their father’s educational methods and approach.
In 1931, a committee was established in the yeshiva for the furtherance of Jewish education. The committee’s goal was to ensure that traditional Jewish education was available to as many Jewish children as possible. The committee saw the organization of schools in small towns where there had previously been little or no structured system of schooling. Older students in the yeshiva were selected to teach for periods of time at these schools, following which, they would return to continue their studies at the yeshiva. In addition to providing many communities at large with new educational options, these schools also gave Telzer students another opportunity for self-development and growth.
Exactly one year and a day after the passing of Rabbi Yosef Leib Bloch, Rabbi Chaim Rabinowitz died. Following Rabbi Rabinowitz’s death, his son, Rabbi Azriel Rabinowitz was appointed as a rosh yeshiva. Rabbi Azriel Rabinowitz was only twenty-six years old and was already an acclaimed illui ("genius").
In 1933, the yeshiva built a new building to house the mechina ("preparatory school"). Until the onset of World War II, the yeshiva continued to offer traditional Jewish education to all ages. The establishment of schools outside of Telz had furthered this goal.
The Holocaust
During the early years of the Holocaust Rabbi Elya Meir Bloch and Rabbi Chaim Mordechai Katz were in the United States
on a fund raising mission. As the war broke out, their original intention was to transfer the whole yeshiva on American soil.
Within a short time they established the yeshiva in Cleveland, Ohio. The original faculty, their families and most of the student body left behind in Europe, were killed in Lithuania by Nazi forces and Lithuanian collaborators.
In 1939 when the Russians enter Lithuania, they eventually closed down the yeshiva. Most of the students dispersed with only about a hundred students remaining there in Telshe. The learning was done in groups of 20-25 students studying in various batai medrashim ("small synagogues") led by the rosh yeshivas.
In June 1941, a group of students led by Rabbi Chaim Stein escaped from war-ravaged Lithuania as it was overrun by the Nazis. Escaping to Russia they were sent to Siberia. In 1944 they were freed and after the war many of them came to Cleveland to join up with the yeshiva.
Telshe in the United States
The yeshiva was transplanted to the United States during World War II, when two of its roshei yeshiva ("deans") chose to re-establish it in Cleveland, Ohio where it still remains. The yeshiva was opened in Cleveland in the house of Yitzchak & Sarah Feigenbaum on 20 Cheshvan 5702 (1941). It is affiliated with the Agudath Israel of America (the Haredi) movement.
The yeshiva again became a well-respected center of Talmudic study, incorporating the distinct methods of the historic institution.
In the United States, more recently, the yeshiva has been led by a strong faculty. This includes Rabbi Boruch Sorotzkin, Rabbi Mordechai Gifter, Rabbi Chaim Stein, Rabbi Aizik Ausband and Rabbi Pesach Stein. As of this writing, the yeshiva is led by Rabbi Zalman Gifter and the senior deans, Rabbi Chaim Stein and Rabbi Aizik Ausband. The associate dean, and beloved teacher, Rabbi David Barkin died December 20, 2006.
Telshe has a strong alumni base. Some of the leaders of Orthodoxy in the United States and in the international Orthodox Jewish community are graduates of the college. Some well known alumni are:
Telshe yeshiva, being a residential institution with students from around the world, also has a department of secular studies. Students can earn a high school diploma studying Ohio-based history, science, English, and mathematics.
Branches
- In 1960, the yeshiva opened Telshe Chicago - a branch in Chicago, Illinois. Within 10 years the branch in Chicago became independent of the yeshiva in Cleveland and no longer had an official formal connection to the yeshiva in Cleveland, although informal ties remain close.
- In 1977 the yeshiva opened a branch in Telz-Stone, Israel. Rabbi Mordechai Gifter left Cleveland to open the branch, however, following the death of Rabbi Baruch Sorotzkin in 1979, Rabbi Gifter returned to Cleveland and the Israeli branch closed.
- In the early 1980s, Rabbi Avraham Ausband, a grandson of the
Telzer rav Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak Bloch, was sent to opened up the Yeshiva of Telshe Alumni in Riverdale, New York by his Rebbe, Rabbi Mordechai Gifter. In 2004, Rabbi Tzvi Feuer (a grandson of Rav Gifter) opened Yeshivas Mesoras Mordechai, in Ramat Beit Shemesh, Israel.
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