Letter Rabbi Eliyahu Meir Bloch Rosh Yeshiva and founder of Telz in Cleveland for Sale

Letter Rabbi Eliyahu Meir Bloch Rosh Yeshiva and founder of Telz in Cleveland For Sale

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Letter Rabbi Eliyahu Meir Bloch Rosh Yeshiva and founder of Telz in Cleveland:
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Early years

Rabbi Bloch was born in 1894 onSimchas Torah[1]inTelšiai(Telshe),Lithuania, then part of theRussian Empire, to RabbiYosef Leiband ChasyaBloch.[2]His mother was the daughter of RabbiEliezer Gordonandhis father therefore served as amaggid shiurinRabbi Gordon\'s yeshiva, theTelshe YeshivainTelšiai. His father later took the positions of rabbi inVarniaiandShadova. He returned to Telšiai in 1910 when Rabbi Gordonpassed away and succeeded him as the community\'s rabbi and rosh yeshiva.[3]

Rabbinic career

He married Rivka Kaplan, the daughter ofthe influentialKlaipėda(Memel)merchant, Avraham Moshe Kaplan, and therefore moved to Klaipėda where he livedfor eight years, studying Torah and deliveringshiurim(Torah classes).[4]In 1929, he returned to Telšiai and was appointed as one ofthe heads of the yeshiva.[5]During this time, he was involvled in theWorld Agudath Israel.[4]

The Holocaust

In 1940, theSoviets occupied Lithuaniaand evicted the Telshe Yeshivafrom their building, converting it into a military hospital. Combined with thefact that they were under Soviet rule and forofferden from teaching religionunder theanti-religious Soviet laws, was the Nazi threat of overtakingEurope and exterminating its Jews. It was therefore decided that the yeshivashould move to the United States. Rabbi Bloch was sent to America together withRabbiChaim Mordechai Katzto arrange for the yeshiva\'semigration.[6]While they were in America, news reached them of theNazi occupation of Lithuania, and out of touch with theirfamilies and yeshiva, they realized that their only option would be to reopenthe yeshiva from scratch in the United States.[7]They would later discover that their families and the wholeyeshiva had been killed out by the Nazis.[6]

Telshe Yeshiva in theUnited States

Unlike most of the American yeshivas atthe time which were established in New York, Rabbi Bloch opened the yeshiva inCleveland, Ohio, tostrengthen its Orthodox Jewish community.[1]The primary Jewish influence in the city was that of thesecular Jews, and theestablishment of the yeshiva boosted the morale of the city\'s smaller OrthodoxJewish community.[4]

A large part of the student body of theyeshiva was made of boys born and bred in the United States. Despite havinglived their lives in Eastern Europe, both Rabbis Bloch and Katz were wellattuned to the American way of thinking, and understood the students\' feelings.[4]However, the yeshiva was run like the Eastern Europeanyeshivas from before the Holocaust, with strict discipline used in regards toits rigorous schedule. RabbiChaim Dov Keller, whostudied in the yeshiva in its early years, recalled Rabbi Bloch\'sthree-hourmussar shmuess(character-improvement talk) givenwhen the students skipped a Saturday night learning session. In Rabbi Keller\'swords, \"Rav Elya Meir gave theshmuess.... He told us thatthey had no intention of opening a yeshiva to cater to the whims of Americansociety....He spoke of the Roshei Yeshiva they had left behind in Europe [whowere murdered by the Nazis], whose emissaries they were. They would never agreeto such a yeshiva.\" Rabbi Bloch then threatened to close the yeshiva ifthe students didn\'t cooperate.[7]

Rabbi Bloch\'s influence on the ClevelandJewish community was profound, as he pushed for the founding ofHebrew Academy of Cleveland, the Yavneh Seminary, and akollel.[4]

Death

Rabbi Bloch died on January 22, 1955, andwas buried at Mount Olive Cemetery inSolon, Ohio.

He was succeeded as rosh yeshiva by RabbiChaim Mordechai Katz.[4]

References

1.^Jump up to:abKeller, Rabbi Chaim Dov(September1977).\"Reb Eliahu Meir Bloch\"(PDF).The Jewish Observer.XII(7): 6–13. Retrieved15 January2021.

2.^\"HaRav Eliahu Meir Bloch\"[link removed by ]Geni.com.Retrieved10 January2021.

3.^Krohn, Rabbi Paysach J.(January2007).Traveling with the Maggid. Brooklyn, NY: Mesorah Publications, class=\"MsoNormal\" level2 lfo1;tab-stops:list 1.0in;background:white\">4.^Jump up to:abcdefScheinbaum,Rabbi A. Leib (May 2003). \"Transmitting the Legacy\".The WorldThat Was: America(Firsted.).The Living Memorial/Hebrew Academy of Cleveland. pp.110–115.ISBN1-57819-360-5.

6.^Jump up to:abZakon,Rabbi Nachman (June 2003).The Jewish Experience: 2,000 Years: ACollection of Significant Events(Seconded.). Shaar Press.p.140.ISBN1-57819-496-2.

7.^Jump up to:abFendel,Rabbi Zechariah (2002).From Dusk to Dawn: The 20th Century. Forest Hills,NY: Hashkafah Publications. pp.275–277.