TELŠIAI YESHIVA

The Telšiai Yeshiva is a subdivision of the Samogitian Museum “Alka”, which was founded in the historic Jewish High School in Telšiai.

It is a museum space whose vision is to preserve and update the Jewish cultural heritage, to promote dialogue between communities and to initiate the formation of historical consciousness. The museum tells the story of the Telšiai Yeshiva and the Jews of Telšiai through the memories of Telšiai Jewish survivors of the Holocaust. The Judaic heritage of the Samogitian Museum “Alka”, which has been preserved in a small but significant way, is presented: household items, religious articles, documentary material.

History of the Telšiai Yeshiva:
Founded in 1875, its success is attributed to Rabbi Eliezer Gordon. In 1884 he became the head of the Telšiai Yeshiva and was the first in Lithuania to introduce modern teaching methods: students had to pass entrance exams, after which they were divided into groups according to their level of knowledge. Until then, the practice of beit midrashim (houses of prayer) had continued in the yeshivas, where each person chose the part of the Talmud to be read. From now on, students in groups would read and analyse the same Talmudic passage throughout the semester. The Telšiai Yeshiva also introduced a regular knowledge testing procedure, which had not been practised in other yeshivas. In a short time, the Telšiai Yeshiva became one of the most important Jewish educational centres in Eastern Europe.

From the second half of the 19th century onwards, not only Telšiai, but also Kaunas (Vilijampolė) and Panevėžys yeshivas were famous throughout the Jewish diaspora. Jews from all over the world came to study at these rabbinical seminaries in Lithuania. Each yeshiva, which had its own specificity of teaching or, as it was said at the time, “spirit”, formed a unique network of Lithuanian Jewish yeshivas. All three yeshivas were re-established in Israel and America during the war, where they continue to this day. The Telšiai Yeshiva was re-established under the same name in 1942 in the USA, in Cleveland, where it continues the system of education established in Telšiai.

The yeshiva has always sounded like a stormy sea. Students debated in large groups, not only in the yeshiva building, but everywhere and at all times: in the street, in the dormitory, during walks in the fields or by the lake - eventually the whole city of Telšiai became a large yeshiva, where studies were not interrupted even for a moment.

(Excerpted from Telšiai Book of Memory).