Telshe Yeshiva
Telshe Yeshiva (also spelled Telz)[3] 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 of Telshe, commonly referred to as Telz Yeshiva, or Telz in short.
Telshe Yeshiva
It is a prominent Haredi institution of Torah study, with additional branches in Chicago and New York. It is the successor of the New Haven Yeshiva of Cleveland.
The Holocaust[edit]
In the fall of 1939, the Russians were allowed to bring troops into Lithuania on the pretext of defending the country. In June 1940, the Russians seized control of the country and quickly transformed it into a "soviet socialist republic." As part of this transformation, private Jewish organizations and schools were disbanded and the yeshiva was closed. Most of the students dispersed, with only about a hundred students remaining in Telshe. The learning was done in groups of 20-25 students, studying in various batai medrashim ("small synagogues") led by the rosh yeshivas.
During the early years of World War II, Elya Meir Bloch and Chaim Mordechai Katz were in the United States on a fund-raising mission. As the war broke out, their only option to ensure the continuity of the Yeshiva was to rebuild Yeshiva on American soil. This Yeshiva was thus rebuilt in Cleveland Ohio.
In October 1940, a group of students led by Chaim Stein escaped via Russia. This group found its way to the United States in early 1941 and joined the Yeshiva in Cleveland.[9]
Telshe in the United States[edit]
The yeshiva was opened in Cleveland in the house of Yitzchak & Sarah Feigenbaum on November 10, 1941.[10] As of 1954,[1] it became officially titled the Rabbinical College of Telshe. They relocated to the present Wickliffe location in 1957.[5]
Telshe consists of a high school, college and post-graduate school. The yeshiva is a non-profit and is accredited through the Association of Advanced Rabbinical and Talmudic Schools.[11] The yeshiva has a department of secular studies that grants a high school diploma.
In the United States, the yeshiva was initially led by a faculty including Elya Meir Bloch, Chaim Mordechai Katz, Boruch Sorotzkin, Mordechai Gifter, Chaim Stein, Aizik Ausband, and Pesach Stein.
The 2013 student count of 130 included 80 in grades 9-12;[1] the highest student count, in 1966, was about 425.[5][12]
Among the well-known alumni of the yeshiva are:
Telšiai Yeshiva art
Telšiai Yeshiva building
