Mordechai Gifter
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Rabbi Mordechai Gifter (1915 - 2001) was the Rosh Yeshiva of the Telz Yeshiva in Cleveland and among American Orthodox Jewry's foremost religious leaders.
[edit] Biography
Mordechai Gifter was born in 1915, Richmond, Virginia. He was raised in Baltimore, Maryland where his father owned a grocery. He attended the public schools and received his religious education in after-school programs. As a young man Rabbi Gifter studied in the Rabbi Isaac Elchonon Theological Seminary of Yeshiva University in New York with others such as Rabbi Nosson Wachtfogel (former Mashgiach ruchani of Lakewood Yeshiva)and Rabbi Avigdor Miller.
His uncle was Dr. Samuel Saar, Dean of Yeshiva College. In 1932 at Dr. Saar's advice, Rabbi Gifter traveled to Lithuania to study in at the Telshe Yeshiva.
Rabbi Gifter immediately was accepted for admission and placed in advanced classes. He developed a strong bond with Rabbi Zalman Bloch, the dean of students at the yeshiva. He eventually became engaged to Rabbi Bloch's daughter. Prior to the wedding Rabbi Gifter returned home to the United States to visit his parents in Baltimore. He planned on returning to Lithuania for his wedding and to resume his studies.
When it became obvious that he would be unable to return due to the political climate of the late 1930s, he arranged for his bride's family to join him in the United States. Only his bride came; the family chose not to abandon their community in its time of greatest need. The Gifters married in Baltimore, with Mrs Gifter's family still in war-torn Lithuania.
Shortly thereafter, Rabbi Gifter was appointed to the pulpit of the Nusach Ari-Lubawitz Synagogue in northwest Baltimore. He soon became well known as an invigorating speaker and refined orator. His lectures and addresses became popular throughout the Baltimore area, and his national reputation began to grow as well. In addition to his rabbinic position Rabbi Gifter was appointed an adjunct lecturer at the expanding Ner Israel Rabbinical College headed by Rabbi Yaakov Yitzchok Ruderman. He was the first native Baltimorean to lead a congregation in the city.
In 1943 Rabbi Gifter moved to Waterbury, Connecticut and assumed a rabbinic pulpit in that community. In 1944 Rabbi Gifter moved to Cleveland, Ohio to join the faculty of his alma mater, the newly re-established Rabbinical College of Telshe, which was moved from Telshe, Lithuania to Cleveland. The original school and Telshe community were almost completely destroyed by the Nazis and Lithuanian militia. In 1964 he was appointed associate Dean together with Rabbi Baruch Sorotzkin.
In 1977, Rabbi Gifter moved to Israel and founded a branch of the college in the Jerusalem area called "Kiryat Telz-Stone", leaving Rabbi Sorotzkin soley in charge of the Cleveland campus.
Following Rabbis Sorotzkin's passing in 1979, Rabbi Gifter returned to the United States to lead the Cleveland campus. He never recovered from the tremendous loss that he felt for his first love, Israel and the Israeli branch of the school. To display his sense of loss, Rabbi Gifter did not return to his on campus residence, but moved into small quarters in the students' dormitory. He never allowed himself to live comfortably since leaving the Israeli project.
For many years he led the presidium and leadership council of the Agudath Israel of America. He was one of the electrifying speakers in the Jewish world. Rabbi Gifter maintained a relationship with his first faculty position at Ner Israel Rabbinical College, returning to Baltimore yearly to visit his daughter and son-in-law and friends.
Rabbi Gifter died in 2001, having suffered numerous ailments for many years prior to his passing.
He is survived by his wife, three sons and three daughters. His sons' Rabbi Binyomin Gifter who is actively working on publishing the works of his father, Rabbi Yisroel Gifter is a Mashgiach of Kashrus in Lakewood, New Jersey. His son-in-law Rabbi Ephraim Eisenberg served as Lecturer and Associate Dean of Ner Israel Rabbinical College in Baltimore.
[edit] Works
Rabbi Gifter was a prolific writer. As a young man he authored articles on some of the most complicated issues in Jewish Law. They were published in the Talmudic law Journal of Rabbi Tzvi Pesach Frank, Jerusalem, Israel.
He published numerous many books on Jewish Law, philosophy, theology and bible. He was a frequent contributor to many scholarly journals including the Western Reserve University Law Review.
Among his books are:
Hebrew:
- Pirkei Torah - Commentary on the Bible.
- Hirhurei Teshuvah - Commentary on Maimonides' Laws of Repentance.
- Pitei Mincha - Commentary on the Minchas Chinuch.
- Pirkei Iyun - Commentary on the Talmudic Tractate Makkos.
- Pirkei Moed - Commentary on the Festivals.
English:
- Torah Perspectives - Essay on a variety of topics.
- Pirkei Torah - Commentary on the Bible.
