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TELZ OFFERED a third type of yeshiva. It was not based on a new method of study as Volozhin was, and it set itself no new goals as Slobodka did. It was a reaction to the perceived disintegration of traditional society and the decline in Torah study, but with no new values: its founders wanted to produce Talmud scholars capable of making profound halakhic decisions. Its importance in the history of Lithuanian yeshivas lies in its new organizational patterns: whereas Volozhin and Slobodkamodelled themselves on the beitmidrash, Telz wasmore like amodern educational institution. Other yeshivas eventually followed suit to varying degrees, so in that sense Telzmarked a final stage in the development of the Lithuanian system. Later changes were very minor.
The Telz yeshiva did not associate itself with the musar movement, but in spite of this there was an attempt to include the study of musar as part of the regular curriculum. The attempt failed, but investigation of this episode and the reasons for its failure can elucidate attitudes to the musar movement as well, as the constraints facing a rosh yeshivah who wanted to innovate.
Manymemoirs have been written about the Telz yeshiva, andmany articles on its history have been published. However, there has been little analytical research into its characteristic features and processes. My focus here will therefore be on its history and organization.
The Establishment of the Telz Yeshiva
The Telz yeshiva is closely linked to the figure of R. Eliezer Gordon, who was the rosh yeshivah for many years, even though its establishment pre-dates his arrival.
The town of Telz (Telšiai) lies in north-western Lithuania, about 75 km east-north-east of Memel (Klaipėda). Yehudah Leib Gordon, the well-known maskil, lived there from 1865 to 1872 and was the principal of a government school for boys and girls. A letter he wrote shortly after his arrival describes the town as an old-fashioned and conservative place which the Haskalah had not yet reached. Fromthe traditionalists’ point of view, Telz looked quite different: in their eyes great changes had taken place, and not always for the better (the very presence of Y. L. Gordon in the town attested to this), and it was these changes that were probably among the factors that led to the foundation of the yeshiva.
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