Gedalia Schorr

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Gedalyahu HaLevi Schorr (1910–1979), also known as Gedalia Schorr, was a leading rabbi and teacher. He was praised as a great Torah scholar, with Rabbi Aharon Kotler calling him the "first American Gadol." When he was nineteen, Rabbi Meir Shapiro said he possessed one of the brightest minds he had ever encountered, in America and the world.

He was born in Ustrzyki Dolne, Poland, the sixth of seven children of Avraham Halevi Schorr. He was named after his grandfather Gedalyahu, a respected scholar and Hasid. The family moved to the United States in 1922, living first on the Lower East Side and then in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

Schorr devoted himself to learning. Shraga Feivel Mendlowitz, head of Mesivta Torah Vodaas, soon noticed his talent, and at age 21 he was appointed to teach the highest class there. Later, when Shlomo Heiman was ill, Schorr filled in as rosh yeshiva for about a year and a half.

In 1938, after marrying Shifra Isbee, he left Torah Vodaas to study at the Kletzk yeshiva under Aharon Kotler. As World War II began, he returned to America due to family concerns and the urging of the U.S. Consul in Poland. After Mendlowitz’s death in 1948, Schorr became principal of Torah Vodaas. In 1958, following the death of Reuven Grozovsky, he became rosh yeshiva and gave weekly classes at Beth Medrash Elyon. From 1970 until his death, he served on the presidium of Agudath Israel of America. His Torah thoughts were collected in Ohr Gedalyahu, based on his last years of teaching.

Schorr died in Brooklyn on July 2, 1979, and was buried on the Mount of Olives. He was survived by his wife, who died in 2004, and by eight children (four sons and four daughters).