Before they received a place on the mizrach vant of Yerushalayim or Bnei Brak — and before they became an address for bnei Torah seeking counsel and insight —many of our gedolim found homes and callings in less visible or likely venues. Those early posts, responsibilities and interactions, often far from the limelight and familiar hubs of Jewish life, foretold future greatness.
No Compromises in London
Rav Yitzchak Tovia Weiss
Rav Yitzchak Tovia Weiss currently the gaavad of the Eidah Chareidis has a long history as a fighter. It’s been almost a decade since he left his prominent rabbinical position in Antwerp to assume the post held previously by Rav Yisrael Moshe Dushinsky ztz”l. During this time he has waged a fierce uncompromising struggle for the image of Judaism in Eretz Yisrael in general and the character ofJerusalem in particular. Yet the groundwork for his role as Yiddishkeit’s defender actually took place somewhere else a country that he’s usually not associated with:England.
Rav Yitzchak Tovia arrived in Englandon a Kindertransport after his hometown in Slovakia was subjected to a German aktion during the Second World War. Eventually he made his way to Gateshead where he studied in the kollel headed by the legendary Rav Eliyahu Dessler ztz”l the author of Michtav MeEliyahu. Even today Rav Yitzchak Tovia often quotes divrei Torah and mussar thoughts from his esteemed rebbi.
When Rav Dessler left Englandto settle in Eretz Yisrael Rav Yitzchak Tovia assumed leadership of the Gatesheadkollel but the connection between the two wasn’t severed. Rav Yitzchak Tovia would mail his questions to Rav Dessler asking the rav to relay the questions to the Chazon Ish. Rav Yitzchak Tovia once remarked that although he had never had the privilege of meeting the Chazon Ish in person he had learned a tremendous amount from the great sage through these letters.
A few years later Rav Yitzchak Tovia left Gateshead and moved to London where he was appointed maggid shiur in the yeshivah headed by Rav Elyakim Schlesinger a student of the Chazon Ish. In that position Rav Yitzchak Tovia demonstrated his erudition and the entire yeshivah benefited from his vast Torah knowledge.
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