Avraham Yitzchak Bloch ( he, אברהם יצחק בלוך; 1891–1941) was the ''

Rosh yeshiva Rosh yeshiva ( he, ראש ישיבה, pl. he, ראשי ישיבה, '; Anglicized pl. ''rosh yeshivas'') is the title given to the dean of a yeshiva, a Jewish educational institution that focuses on the study of traditional religious texts, primar ...

'' of the

Telz Yeshiva Telshe Yeshiva (also spelled ''Telz'') is a yeshiva in Wickliffe, Ohio, formerly located in Telšiai, Lithuania. During World War II the yeshiva began relocating to Wickliffe, Ohio, in the United States and is now known as the Rabbinical College o ...

in Lithuania, and one of the greatest pre-Holocaust

rabbi A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as ''semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of ...

nic figures.

Early life

Avraham Yitchak Bloch was born in 1891 and was the second son of Rabbi Yosef Leib Bloch, the ''Rosh yeshiva'' of Telz. He represented the third generation of family leadership in Telz, as his grandfather Rabbi

Eliezer Gordon Eliezer Gordon ( he, אליעזר גוֹרְדוֹן; 1841–1910) also known as Reb Laizer Telzer (), served as the rabbi and ''rosh yeshiva'' of Telz, Lithuania. Early years Eliezer Gordon was born in 1841 in the village of Chernyany (or ...

was also ''Rosh yeshiva'' in Telz. Bloch was educated by both his father and grandfather.

Telzer Rav and Rosh Yeshiva

Upon the death of Yosef Leib Bloch in 1929, it was widely assumed that his oldest son, Rabbi

Zalman Bloch Zalman Tech Co. (usually simplified as ZALMAN) is a South Korean company that develops and provides aftermarket desktop computer products with primary focus on cooling enhancement. Zalman has done considerable product development since its foun ...

would succeed his father as ''

'' of Telz, as was the custom in many communities. At the funeral Zalman announced that the position should be filled by his younger brother. At the age of 38, Avraham Yitzchak succeeded his father as ''Rosh Yeshiva'' of Telz, which was one of the largest and most prestigious

yeshiva A yeshiva (; he, ישיבה, , sitting; pl. , or ) is a traditional Jewish educational institution focused on the study of Rabbinic literature, primarily the Talmud and halacha (Jewish law), while Torah and Jewish philosophy are stu ...

s in Europe. Bloch traveled to the United States in 1928 on a successful fundraising campaign. Bloch continued to develop the educational methodology pioneered by his father. This method is known as the ''Telzer Derekh'', a unique analytical approach to

Torah The Torah (; hbo, ''Tōrā'', "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. In that sense, Torah means the s ...

study. Bloch was also a member of the

Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah (, "Council of great Torah ages) is the supreme rabbinical policy-making council of the Agudat Yisrael and Degel HaTorah movements in Israel; and of Agudath Israel of America in the United States. Members are usually pre ...

of the Agudath Israel and participated at the third Knessia Gedolah of the Agudath Israel at Marienbad,

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

in 1937.

World War II

In 1940, the town of Telz was invaded by Soviet forces. Shortly thereafter, the

was forced to surrender its main building for use as a Red Army barracks. The students remained in Telz, where they rented accommodation from local townsfolk. This also changed, when the Soviets forbade the renting out of rooms to

students. Bloch responded by dispersing the yeshiva to five surrounding towns and arranging for members of the faculty to travel from town to town to deliver classes to his students. On Tuesday July 15, 1941 (20th Tammuz), Nazi ''

Einsatzgruppen (, ; also ' task forces') were (SS) paramilitary death squads of Nazi Germany that were responsible for mass murder, primarily by shooting, during World War II (1939–1945) in German-occupied Europe. The had an integral role in the imp ...

'' and local Lithuanian sympathizers massacred the male population of Telz, including Bloch himself and the faculty of the yeshiva. Three of Bloch's daughters survived the Holocaust. Rochel married Rabbi

Baruch Sorotzkin Rephoel Baruch Sorotzkin (February 5, 1917 - February 10, 1979) was the Rosh Yeshiva of the Telz Yeshiva in Cleveland and among American Jewry's foremost religious leaders. He was born on February 5, 1917 (13th of Shevat, 5677) in Zhetl, in the ...

who joined the

in Cleveland, Ohio, and later served as the ''Rosh yeshiva''. Another married Rabbi Aizik Ausband, a student of Telz in Lithuania who also became a ''Rosh yeshiva'' at the Telz Yeshiva in Cleveland, Ohio. The third daughter Miriam married Yosef Yehudah Leib Kleiner; they met and married in a DP camp in Germany after the war, they immigrated to Israel in 1951.

Published works

Bloch was both a prolific writer and speaker yet many of his writings were lost during the Holocaust. Some notes of Rabbi Bloch's lectures were rescued by students who escaped the Holocaust, and published by Bloch's family: *''Shiurei HaGrai Bloch'' on the Talmudic Tractates of Chullin and Yevamos. *''Shiurei Daas'' - A collection of essays on a variety of topics viewed from the unique Telz method of analysis.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bloch, Avraham Yitzchak 1891 births 1941 deaths Haredi rabbis in Europe Rosh yeshivas Lithuanian Haredi rabbis People from Telšiai Rabbis from Telšiai Jews and Judaism in Telšiai Lithuanian Jews who died in the Holocaust