The Telzer Yeshiva buzzed with activity, and the beis medrash where the rosh yeshiva, Reb Eliezer Gordon, also known as Reb Leizer Telzer, was giving shiur seemed more like a battlefield than a lecture hall. One student would ask a question, a second would offer an answer, while a third would passionately dispute it. Then Reb Eliezer Gordon would join the debate, sometimes stepping down from the bima into the middle of the shiur room and mingling with his students.
Once, the bochurim decided not to challenge Reb Eliezer in the middle of his shiur, but to maintain the silence that customarily prevails in yeshivos during the shiur klali. Reb Eliezer was stunned by the response - actually the lack thereof - and declared, "I'm not used to giving a shiur in a cemetery." Reb Eliezer's conduct during his shiurim was a by-product of his total absorption in Torah; Torah study was his greatest joy in life and when he was involved in learning, he was totally oblivious to his surroundings. When faced with a difficult kasha he felt saddened and wouldn't eat or sleep until he had resolved it. When he finally unraveled the difficulty, he would glow with joy.
Only a man with such enthusiasm and with so ardent a love of Torah could head a yeshiva like Telz, whose bochurim spoke in Torah everywhere they went - even in Telshe's fields and alleyways. As rosh yeshiva, he was perfectly suited for them, and they for him.
שמים HEAVEN WATCHED OVER HIM
Reb Eliezer Gordon was born in 5601/1841 in the Lithuanian village of Chernian. His father, Reb Avrohom Shmuel Gordon, had studied under Reb Chaim of Volozhin. Although Reb Avraham earned his living as a brandy maker, he spent every moment of his spare time studying Torah. Reb Chaim, who held him in high esteem, would often tell his students that although Reb Avrohom looked like a simple tradesman, he was actually an outstanding talmid chochom - knowledgably .
Since there was no mohel in Chernian, Reb Avrohom Shmuel took his newborn son by sleigh to the nearby town of Svir for his bris. On the way, the sleigh suddenly slipped, and the infant fell out.
The family, however, only realized what had happened once they had traveled quite a distance. Turning back, they began to search for the baby, finding him hours later at the outskirts of the forest between Chernian and Svir. They panicked when they saw a wolf standing beside him. But upon closer inspection, they realized the wolf hadn't harmed him; rather, it was guarding him. Obviously, the wolf had been sent by Heaven to protect the baby, who soon had his bris and was named Eliezer.
As a youngster, Eliezer studied in the Zaretza Yeshiva in Vilna. From there, he transferred to Reb Yisroel Salanter's yeshiva in Kovno. Among the yeshiva's outstanding students at that time were Reb Yitzchok Blazer, Reb Simcha Zissel Ziv, Reb Naftali Amsterdam, Reb Yerucham Perlman and Reb Yaakov Yosef.
Reb Yisroel Salanter realized that Reb Eliezer had the makings of a rosh yeshiva, and he trained him to one day assume such a position, appointing him a maggid shiur in his yeshiva. Reb Eliezer married the daughter of the wealthy and pious Reb Avraham Yitzchok Noveizer, who served as Rov of Kovno. Rav Avraham supported the young couple for a number of years, refusing to let Reb Eliezer assume any rabbinical position. In time, Reb Eliezer was offered a position as rov of the prestigious towns of Aliksot and Eishishok. But his father- in- law refused to let him accept them, saying, "Who knows whether we are sustaining him with our financial support, or he is sustaining us with his Torah?"
After his father-in-law's petira, Reb Eliezer succeeded him as rov of Kovno. But he left after three months to accept the position of rov in Kelm, where he founded a yeshiva. From there, he headed to Slabodka, where he served as rov for about six months. After that, he proceeded to what would be his final destination: Telz.
Telz at that time had a small kibbutz, or study group, of outstanding talmidim, which had been founded in 5637/1877 by Reb Nosson Tzvi Finkel. and Reb Eliezer Chavas. Among its students were Reb Meir Atlas, Reb Yaakov Tzvi Oppenheim, Reb Shlomo Abel and Reb Shimon Shkop. Reb Eliezer devoted all of his efforts to the development of this kibbutz, until it eventually grew into one of the most famous yeshivos in the world.
He also instituted a new learning approach in the yeshiva, based primarily on logic and the understanding of the Gemara. Until that time, its students had mainly analyzed the commentaries of the Acharonim, such as Pnei Yehoshua, Maharsha and Maharam Shif. Reb Eliezer, though, directed them to probe the works of the Rishonim, such as Ramban, Rashba and Ritva, who delve deeply into the Gemara's pshat. However, he also included some Acharonim in their course of study, among them the Ketzos Hachoshen, Nesivos Hamisphat and Reb Akiva Eiger, who employ the method of analysis he advocated.
Another of his innovations was dividing the yeshiva into various classes, enabling students to proceed at paces commensurate to their ages and intellectual levels. In other yeshivos at that time, all the students learned in one general shiur. The maggidei shiur during that period were Reb Shimon Shkop, Reb Chaim Rabinowitz and Reb Yosef Leib Bloch. Reb Eliezer himself delivered the highest-level shiur.
RAGING STORMS
At first, things in the yeshiva proceeded smoothly. But in time, a fiery dispute shattered its esprit de corps. This dispute was sparked by the introduction of mussar study into the yeshiva's curriculum. During his early years as rosh yeshiva, Reb Eliezer appointed special mussar mashgichim to supervise the students' spiritual development and to shape their characters according to Reb Yisroel Salanter's approach. Its first mussar mashgiach was Reb Ben Zion Kranitz, a student of Reb Simcha Zissel of Kelm. Reb Ben Zion was very mild mannered, and he didn't force his students to accept the mussar approach.
However, in 5657/1897, when Haskala's venom began to seep even into the yeshiva, Reb Eliezer engaged a new mussar mashgiach - the dynamic Reb Leib Chasman, who instituted a very strict mussar regime in the yeshiva.
Many of the students, however, opposed this approach, and a major battle erupted. At times, the opponents of the mussar approach made various demands and went on strike until their terms were met. Reb Eliezer was very upset by this discord, and once fell ill as a result. Nonetheless, he insisted on maintaining this regime and approach, and he expelled the leaders of the rebellion. On another occasion, he disbanded the entire yeshiva, and founded it anew without foregoing the yeshiva's mussar character.
One time, during the mussar controversy, the yeshiva's administration withheld the rebellious students' stipends. When their representative requested that the stipends be resumed, Reb Eliezer asked, "What are they doing now?" "They're learning well, but are starving," he replied. Reb Eliezer was shocked, and despite the conflict, he gave the representative a large sum to distribute among the recalcitrant students.
Reb Eliezer's son-in-law Reb Yosef Leib Bloch supported him in his efforts to fortify the mussar approach in the yeshiva. At one point, he decided to leave the yeshiva, hoping that his departure would cause the controversy to subside. He left Telshe in 5662/1902 and assumed a position as rov of Verna and Shadova. Reb Shimon Shkop also left the yeshiva at that time, and he was replaced by Reb Chaim Rabinowitz, formerly a rebbi in Knesses Yisroel and Knesses Beis Yitzchok of Slabodka.
Other outstanding talmidei chachamim who served as mussar mashgichim in the yeshiva were Reb Nesanel Yosef Graz, Reb Eliezer Luft and Reb Shmuel Fundiler. The latter two were sent by Reb Nosson Tzvi Finkel, along with scores of the finest mussar talmidim of Slabodka, to strengthen the yeshiva from a mussar aspect. These students succeeded in planting deep mussar roots in the yeshiva, and even though rebellions still surged, the proponents of the mussar approach exceeded the opponents and overcame them.
LEGENDARY DEDICATION
Reb Eliezer's dedication to his students was legendary. While he was in Kelm, two of his students were drafted into the army, and a large sum of money was needed to secure their release. Reb Eliezer, who was unable to raise the necessary funds, gave the authorities the crowns of the local shul's Torah scrolls as collateral. When Kelm's communal leaders protested, he said, "The finest crown for the Torah scrolls is the Torah study of these students."
While in Telz, he often had to go out on fund-raising missions himself. But nothing was too difficult for him when the welfare of his beloved students was at stake. Prior to his daughter's marriage, Reb Eliezer received a large sum of money from his father-in-law, the wealthy Reb Boruch Brody, to cover the wedding expenses. At that time, however, the yeshiva was in dire financial straits and lacked money for food. Reb Eliezer used the entire dowry to provide the students with their basic needs, without taking his own family's needs into consideration.
FIGHTING THE MASKILIM
While still a young man in Kovno, Reb Eliezer was drafted into the war against the maskilim by none other than Reb Yisroel Salanter. At Reb Yisroel's urging, Reb Eliezer and Reb Alexander Moshe Lapidus of Rasein successfully transformed the Halevanon newspaper into a sounding board for Torah-true Jewry in Russia.
In 5633/1873 the Russian authorities insisted that all melamdim complete an advanced course of secular studies by a certain date. As the deadline neared, the maskilim demanded that the decree be officially passed, and that every cheder whose melamdim hadn't met the requirements be closed. Since not a single melamed had enrolled in such a course, it was feared that all of the chadarim in Russia would be shut down.
Although Reb Eliezer was still a young man at that time, Lithuania's Torah sages, among them Reb Yitzchok Elchonon Spector, Reb Yehoshua Leib Diskin and Reb Yosef Dov Soloveitchik, chose him to represent them before the government, sending him to Petersburg to try and annul the decree. Due to his success in this endeavor, too, the maskilim began to harass him when he became Rav of Kovno after his father-in-law's passing. The maskilim knew that Reb Eliezer no longer had someone to support him and needed an income. They tried to make him resign by influencing the town council not to pay him for his first three years as rav since his father-in-law, who had been very wealthy, had never taken a salary.
Reb Yitzchok Elchonon Spector, however, was very eager to have Reb Eliezer serve as Kovno's rav. He had his secretary, Reb Yaakov Lipshitz, collect enough money to cover Reb Eliezer's salary for three years. Three months later, however, Reb Eliezer accepted a position as Rov of Kelm, because it offered him a greater opportunity to strengthen Torah. Before leaving Kovno, Reb Eliezer returned all of the money he had received from Reb Spector.
COMMUNAL ACTIVITY IN TELZ
In Telz, Reb Eliezer was also deeply involved in communal affairs, and the amendments he instituted there are indicative of his greatness of spirit and his mussar nature. At that time, matza bakeries employed men, women and even children during the day and throughout most of the night. Deploring this situation, Reb Eliezer issued strict orders to close all of Telz's matza bakeries by 11 p.m. His official reason for the order was that after that time the workers were too tired to maintain scrupulous kashrus standards. However, he told his family that his real purpose was to protect the workers from being exploited and overworked.
To enforce this order, Reb Eliezer ruled that any bakery owner who disregarded it would be deprived of his kashrus certificate. He disguised his true reason for issuing the law because at that time social welfare was not in vogue.
Seeing that storekeepers used worn and inaccurate weights and measures, he also issued an order requiring them to exchange their weights for new ones. To enforce this order, he personally inspected the weights of the market vendors, forbidding them to use the old ones even when non-Jewish customers made purchases. Reb Eliezer's son-in-law Reb Zalman Sorotzkin relates that when non-Jews came to Telshe's market, they would ask that their items be weighed on "the rov's scales."
The gentiles respected Reb Eliezer so much that they would also ask him to bless them. One time a gentile entreated him, "I want my enemy to die. Please curse him!" To this Reb Eliezer replied, "Pray, instead, that he will befriend you." Once, Reb Eliezer met the governor of the Vilna district and blessed him with success. Years later that governor became Russia's prime minister and he told his close confidants about Reb Eliezer's blessing.
On another occasion, Reb Eliezer protested the meat tax that Telz's Jewish residents were forced to pay. Reb Eliezer insisted that this money not be used for churches or gentile schools, and he convinced the district's authorities to allocate large sums from these revenues for the building of mikvaos and for shul maintenance.
OUTWITTING THE AUTHORITIES
Reb Eliezer also knew how to outwit the authorities when necessary. His resourcefulness saved the yeshiva, which was officially illegal, many times. One time, the maskilim reported the existence of the yeshiva in Telz to the mayor, who in turn sent an inspector to investigate the matter. When the inspector entered the beis medrash, it was filled to capacity. Naturally, the first person the inspector approached was Reb Eliezer, who at that time was wrapped in tallis and tefillin and was poring over his Gemara. Looking up for a brief moment, Reb Eliezer said, "I can't interrupt my studies to talk to you now. But have a seat and begin filling out your report."
In the meantime, Reb Eliezer motioned to the students to leave the beis medrash quickly. By the time the inspector had finished writing, only 20 students remained. "Can I see your report?" Reb Eliezer asked him. "Sure," the proud inspector replied. After reading it, Reb Eliezer turned to the inspector in surprise and said, "The report states that the yeshiva has hundreds of students. Why not count how many are actually here? If you made a mistake your superiors will fire you." Since a beis medrash with only 20 students could not be legally defined as a yeshiva, the inspector was forced to report that there was no yeshiva in Telz .
FINAL DAYS
In 5668/1908, a fire broke out in Telz, destroying all of the wooden homes in the city, including the yeshiva. As a result, Reb Eliezer, who was nearly 70, traveled to Berlin and London to collect the money needed to rebuild these homes and the yeshiva. It was winter, and Reb Eliezer's doctors warned him that England's blustery weather was dangerous to his heath, especially since he had suffered a heart attack a few years earlier. However, Reb Eliezer could not be deterred.
London's rabbanim called a large meeting on his behalf and many of the city's wealthy Jewish residents were in attendance. At the meeting Reb Eliezer tearfully described the plight of the yeshiva and the hardships it was enduring.
However, the audience's reaction was lukewarm to say the least, and Reb Eliezer took it as a sign that his efforts to save the yeshiva would not succeed. In his sorrow, he suffered a severe heart attack that very night, 4 Adar I, 5670/1910. And it has been said that in his last words he said that London would never have a true lasting Yeshiva of Torah learning . And until today , it has never been successful . In England , the Manchester and Gateshead yeshivos are successful but not London .
The Jewish world was shocked by his petira, as well as by the circumstances that led to it. A large levaya was held in London, but only three days later on the Tuesday, where he was buried in the Edmonton Federation Cemetary . Until today, his grave is visited by Jews seeking yeshuos. After Reb Eliezer's passing, his legacy was perpetuated by the illustrious Telz Yeshiva and the many generations of outstanding students he produced.
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From my Rebbe , Reb Gedalia Schneider of London
Once gave a lesson from the Gemorra in Bruchos
מס ברכות דף ח.
בשביל מה כל חסיד מתפלל אילך לעת מצאוֹ
ר יוֹחנן אמר מצא זוּ קבוּרה
The talmud in Brachos page 8a, asks "what should every righteous person pray for at the time of "finding" ....and what is the time of finding referrring to ? Reb Yochanan says this is referring to the time of burial . " we should pray to be buried with dignity .
As you read above a little about the very great man Reb Eliezer Gordon, My teacher Reb Gedalia Schneider , ( son of the Famous Reb Moshe Schneider of Schneiders yeshiva , and brother in law of Reb Alter Halpern .) always said that indeed the fact that Reb Eliezer Gordon is buried in London was itself a very special blessing , for his grave and tomb are visited by many people , and certainly was not desecrated by the Nazis as so many were in Europe . The special blessing that we today can pray at the grave of Reb Eliezer Gordon, and jews in England have been able to since 1910 . And Reb Eliezer continuing his ways in spirit world as he did in this world .....of helping as many people as possible . Everything has a reason in life and happens by God's decree & wishes, and that nothing happens by chance or accident , so Reb Eliezer dying in London happend for a reason too .
Every orthodox and many non-religious people have been to the tomb of Reb Eliezer Gordon in Edmonton, London , and everyone agrees that there is a very special feeling as you stand by and then inside the tomb .
Below are photos of the grave - OHEL - TOMB of Reb Eliezer
click on the categories below to see the photos :-
We are more than happy to take your prayer requests to the Ohel of the Telzer Rosh Yeshiva, Reb Eliezer Gordon, when either myself, Reb Akiva, Reb Boruch or Reb Simcha go once every week usually on Sundays and/or Fridays . Simply send an email to us with your hebrew name where you come from and your request .
Friends of ours and sincere "ehrlich" members of the Satmar Kehilla in Stamford Hill London N16 , have taken it upon themselves voluntarily, with pleasure and respectful honour to go to the gravesite of the Famous Reb Eliezer Gordon with your requests . They shall read out your prayers, and place the paper with your name in the place for Kvetlich in the tomb .
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