4 Adar · Yahrzeit
Rabbi Eliezer Gordon - Rosh Yeshiva of Telz
Rabbi Eliezer ben Avraham Shmuel Gordon, Rosh Yeshiva of Telz (1841–1910)
Yahrzeit - 4 Adar
Burial place - London
Rabbi Eliezer Gordon, also known as Reb Leizer Telzer, served as Rabbi and Rosh Yeshiva in Telz, Lithuania.
He was born in 1841 in the village of Charnyany in Belarus, near Vilna. His father, Avraham Shmuel Gordon, was a student of Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin. In his youth he studied at the "Zaretche" Yeshiva in Vilna, and later moved to Rabbi Yisrael Salanter's Yeshiva, the "Kovno Kollel," in Kovno. Among his distinguished fellow students were Rabbi Yitzchok Blazer, Rabbi Simcha Zissel Ziv, Rabbi Naftali Amsterdam, Rabbi Yerucham Perelman, and Rabbi Yaakov Yosef.
Rabbi Salanter recognized that Rabbi Gordon possessed great potential, and at a young age appointed him a Maggid Shiur at the yeshiva.
After the passing of his father-in-law, Rabbi Gordon succeeded him as rabbi of Kovno, but remained there only three months. On Tuesday, March 24 (6 Nissan), 1874, Rabbi Gordon assumed the position of chief rabbi in Kelm, where he remained for nine years and founded a yeshiva there. From there he went to Slabodka, where he served as rabbi for about six months. Eventually, he moved to Telz in 1884 to serve as rabbi.
Telz
In 1875, Rabbis Meir Atlas, Tzvi Yaakov Oppenheim, and Shlomo Zalman Abel founded the Telz Yeshiva.
In 1883, Rabbi Gordon became the rabbi of Telz; in 1884 he was also appointed head of the young institution.
Rabbi Gordon introduced many innovative ideas at the yeshiva, which have since become standard practice in many modern yeshivas:
Until then, yeshivas grouped all their students into a single general shiur (class). Rabbi Gordon, however, divided the yeshiva into different shiurim (classes) according to the age and intellectual level of each student.
Rabbi Gordon also promoted a new approach to the yeshiva's curriculum, based primarily on logic and understanding of the Talmud. While other yeshivas primarily analyzed later commentaries on the Talmud, such as the "Pnei Yehoshua," "Maharsha," and "Maharam Schiff," Rabbi Gordon directed his students to study earlier works of the Rishonim, such as the Ramban, Rashba, and Ritva.
Nevertheless, he also incorporated into the curriculum works of certain Acharonim, such as the Ketzot HaChoshen, Netivot HaMishpat, and the writings of Rabbi Akiva Eiger.
As a student of Rabbi Yisrael Salanter, Rabbi Gordon advocated the study of mussar (ethical) literature at the yeshiva, though not as a requirement for all students.
Rabbi Gordon appointed a special ethics teacher (mashgiach) to oversee the spiritual development of the students and shape their character. The yeshiva's first mussar mashgiach was Rabbi Ben Tzion Kranitz, a student of Rabbi Simcha Zissel Ziv of Kelm. Rabbi Kranitz was a very gentle man and did not force his students to adopt the approach of the Mussar movement. However, in 1897, Rabbi Gordon hired a new mussar mashgiach - the energetic Rabbi Leib Chasman - who instituted a very strict mussar regimen at the yeshiva. Many students objected to this approach, causing so much discord among the students that he eventually left the yeshiva.
Rabbi Gordon also believed that hiring teachers of the highest caliber was essential to the yeshiva's success. Under Rabbi Gordon's leadership, the yeshiva hired Rabbi Shimon Shkop, Rabbi Yosef Leib Bloch, and Rabbi Chaim Rabinowitz ("Reb Chaim Telzer").
Rabbi Gordon unsuccessfully attempted to hire Rabbi Yitzchok Yaakov Rabinowitz ("Reb Itzele Ponevezher") to teach at the yeshiva.
Communal Activity
As Rav, he established certain rules, including that matzah bakeries had to close by 11:00 PM. Publicly, he stated that this was for the sake of kashrut, so that workers would not exceed 18 minutes in adding water, but privately he admitted that it was done to prevent the exploitation of the workers.
His son-in-law, Rabbi Zalman Sorotzkin, assisted him in overseeing honest weights and measures.
Rabbi Gordon suffered a fatal heart attack in London. His funeral drew one of the largest crowds London had ever seen - 50,000 mourners.
Passing
In 1908, a fire broke out in Telz, destroying all the town's wooden houses, including the yeshiva. In 1910, Rabbi Gordon, then nearly 70 years old, traveled to Berlin and London together with his wife and his younger friend Rabbi Aharon Walkin - author of "Teshuvot Zekan Aharon" of Pinsk - to raise funds to rebuild the homes and the yeshiva. It was winter, and Rabbi Gordon's doctors warned him that the weather in England was dangerous for his health, especially since he had suffered a heart attack a few years earlier. Nevertheless, Rabbi Gordon could not be dissuaded.
Dayan Shmuel Yitzchok Hillman of Glasgow and several leading European rabbis (who happened to be in London at the time), such as Rabbi Moshe Mordechai Epstein of Slabodka, Rabbi Yaakov Dovid Wilovsky (the Ridvaz) of Slutsk, and Rabbi Eliyahu David Rabinowitz-Teomim (the Aderet), delivered moving words of farewell.
May the merit of the Tzadik protect Am Yisrael!
(https://dailyzohar.com/tzadikim/1029-Rabbi-Eliezer-Gordon)