Mordechai Gifter (October 15, 1915 - January 18, 2001) was an American
Haredi rabbi. He was the
rosh yeshiva
Rosh yeshiva or Rosh Hayeshiva (, plural, pl. , '; 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, primarily the Talmud and th ...
(dean) of the
Telz Yeshiva in
Cleveland
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...
. He was a staunch opponent of Zionism.
Gifter studied in
yeshivas in Lithuania, and held several rabbinical positions in the United States.
Early life and education
Gifter was born in
Portsmouth, Virginia
Portsmouth is an Independent city (United States), independent city in southeastern Virginia, United States. It lies across the Elizabeth River (Virginia), Elizabeth River from Norfolk, Virginia, Norfolk. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ...
to Yisrael and Matla (May) Gifter. He was raised in
Baltimore, Maryland
Baltimore is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the List of United States ...
, where his father owned a grocery.
[ He attended the Baltimore City Public Schools, at the time being known as Max, and received his religious education in after-school programs. He had a younger brother and sister, and both predeceased him.
As a young man, Gifter studied in the Rabbi Isaac Elchonon Theological Seminary in ]New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
, under the tutelage of Moshe Aharon Poleyeff and Moshe Soloveichik. His uncle, Samuel Saar (Yehudah Leib), was the dean of the seminary.[ At the time, Avigdor Miller, also a Baltimore native, was learning in RIETS. On Saar's advice, Gifter traveled in 1932 to ]Lithuania
Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...
on the same boat as Miller to study in the Telshe Yeshiva. Gifter was immediately accepted for admission and placed in advanced classes. He developed a strong bond with Zalman Bloch, the ''mashgiach ruchani
A mashgiach ruchani (; pl., ''mashgichim ruchani'im''), sometimes mashgiach for short, is a spiritual supervisor or guide. They are usually a rabbi who has an official position within a yeshiva and is responsible for the non-academic areas of yesh ...
'' (spiritual supervisor) at the yeshiva. He eventually became engaged to Bloch's daughter. In 1939, prior to his wedding, 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, Gifter 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. One of the witnesses at Gifter's wedding was Bernard Lander, then a rabbi in Baltimore and later founder of Touro College.
]
Career
Shortly thereafter, Gifter was appointed to the pulpit of the Nusach Ari Synagogue in northwest Baltimore. In addition to his rabbinic position, Gifter was appointed an adjunct lecturer at the expanding Ner Israel Rabbinical College headed by Yaakov Yitzchok Ruderman. He was the first native Baltimorean to lead a congregation in the city.
In 1941, Gifter moved to Waterbury, Connecticut
Waterbury is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. Waterbury had a population of 114,403 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 Census. The city is southwest of Hartford, Connecticut, Hartford and northeast of New York City. Waterbury i ...
and assumed a rabbinic pulpit in that community.[ In 1944, Gifter moved to ]Cleveland
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...
, 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 as dean together with Boruch Sorotzkin.
In 1977, Gifter brought 20 students from Cleveland to Israel and opened a branch of the college in the town of Kiryat Ye'arim (Telz-Stone), leaving Sorotzkin in charge of the Cleveland campus. In addition to teaching his students, Gifter delivered a '' shiur'' (Torah lecture) on the ''Minchas Chinuch'' on Fridays in Jerusalem
Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...
, attracting many Torah scholars. Notes from that ''shiur'' were eventually compiled in a ''sefer Sefer may refer to:
* Sefer (Hebrew), a term for a book
People with the surname
* Franjo Šefer (born 1905), Yugoslav tennis player
* Bela Šefer, Yugoslav footballer playing in 1924
People with the forename
* Sefer Reis, Turkish privateer and O ...
'' (book) called ''Pitei Mincha''. When Sorotzkin died in 1979, Gifter was sent back to the United States to lead the Cleveland campus and the Israeli branch closed. From that point on, Gifter moved into small quarters in the students' dormitory, eschewing his on-campus residence. He purportedly did this due to his distress out of feeling compelled to live in ''golus'' (the Jewish diaspora
The Jewish diaspora ( ), alternatively the dispersion ( ) or the exile ( ; ), consists of Jews who reside outside of the Land of Israel. Historically, it refers to the expansive scattering of the Israelites out of their homeland in the Southe ...
).
For many years, Gifter led the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah (presidium and leadership council) of Agudath Israel of America. He maintained a relationship with his first faculty position at Ner Israel Rabbinical College, returning to Baltimore annually to visit his daughter and son-in-law and friends.
Gifter died in 2001, having suffered numerous ailments for many years prior to his death. He was eulogized by Dovid Barkin, among others.
Family
Gifter was survived by his wife, three sons and three daughters.
Controversy
As a leading Haredi scholar, Gifter frequently addressed controversial topics. In one lecture, he sharply berated Haskel Lookstein for his condemnation of Elazar Shach
Elazar Menachem Man Shach (, Elazar Shach; January 1, 1899 O.S. – November 2, 2001) was a Haredi rabbi who headed Lithuanian Orthodox Jews in Israel and around the world from the early 1970s until his death. He served as chair of the Counc ...
's criticism of Adin Steinsaltz.
Works
Writings
Gifter was a prolific writer. As a young man he authored articles on some of the most complicated issues in Jewish Law, which were published in the Talmudic law Journal of Tzvi Pesach Frank.
He published numerous books on Jewish Law, philosophy, theology and bible. He was a frequent contributor to many scholarly journals, and once wrote an article for the Western Reserve University Law Review.
Among his books are:
Hebrew:
*''Pirkei Torah'' - Commentary on the Bible.
*''Hirhurei Teshuva'' - 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.
References
External links
Kolel Ateres Mordechai
Mordechai Gifter's publications
Lectures
Torah Anytime
More lectures
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gifter, Mordechai
1915 births
2001 deaths
20th-century American male writers
20th-century American non-fiction writers
20th-century American rabbis
American Haredi rabbis
American male non-fiction writers
Authors of works on the Talmud
Burials at the Jewish cemetery on the Mount of Olives
Jewish American non-fiction writers
Rabbis from Maryland
Rabbis from Ohio
Rabbis from Virginia
Religious leaders from Cleveland
Religious leaders from Richmond, Virginia
Rosh yeshivas
Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah
Writers from Baltimore
Writers from Cleveland
Writers from Waterbury, Connecticut