Avraham Yitzchak Bloch

Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak Bloch (Hebrew: אברהם יצחק בלוך‎‎; 1891–1941) was the Chief Rabbi and Rosh Yeshiva of the Telz Yeshiva in Lithuania, and one of the greatest pre-Holocaust Rabbinic figures.

Rabbi Bloch was born in 1891 and was the second son of Rabbi Yosef Leib Bloch, the Chief Rabbi and Rosh Yeshiva of Telz. He represented the third generation of family leadership in Telz, as his grandfather Rabbi Eliezer Gordon was also Chief Rabbi and Rosh Yeshiva in Telz.

Rabbi Bloch was educated by both his father and grandfather and on account of his brilliance and intellectual ability, was appointed to the faculty of the Telz Yeshiva when he was only thirty five years old.

Upon the death of Rabbi Yosef Leib Bloch in 1929, it was widely assumed that Rabbi Yosef Leib's oldest son, Rabbi Zalman Bloch would succeed his father as Chief Rabbi and Rosh Yeshiva of Telz, as was the custom in many communities. At the funeral Rabbi Zalman Bloch announced that the position should be filled by his younger brother. At the young age of 38, Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak Bloch succeeded his father in the dual role of Chief Rabbi and Rosh Yeshiva of Telz, which was one of the largest and most prestigious yeshivas in Europe.

Serving in these capacities, Rabbi Bloch understood the diverse points of view of community members, while, simultaneously, upholding the Torah perspective. Sensitive to the material as well as the spiritual needs of his students, he traveled to the United States in 1928 on a successful fundraising campaign. Rabbi Bloch continued to develop the educational methodology pioneered by his father. This method is known as the Telzer Derekh, a unique analytical approach to Torah study.

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