Yosef Yehudah Leib Bloch

(1860 - 1930)

In 1910, Rabbi Yosef Yehudah Leib Bloch succeeded his illustrious father-in-law, Rabbi Eliezer Gordon, as Rosh Yeshiva of the famed Telzer Yeshiva. Rabbi Bloch created a new genre known as Shiurei Da’at, which were lectures on musar and basic principles. Four volumes of such lectures were published. He also had an original approach to halacha and some of his lectures have been published as Shiurei Halacha.

Rabbi Bloch saw the unity of all aspects of the Torah and their root in the supernal world. Under his guidance, a little known elite society was formed, Agudas Emes V’Sholom, whose purpose was to develop individuals capable of influencing the generation. He warned that the purity of the idea might be tainted by publicity (see HaMayan, Tishrei Tashnaz). The Telzer Yeshiva was a complex of institutions for all ages. The Yeshiva was also innovative in the education of girls.

Sources: Orthodox Union