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From
<a href="http://tinyurl.com/7q8zqds" eudora="autourl">
http://tinyurl.com/7q8zqds</a><br><br>
<font size=3>Rav Pinchas Mordechai Teitz saw opportunities for the growth
of Torah when he came to the U.S. in 1933. He built a modern Torah
community in Elizabeth, NJ, where two mikvaos, three schools, and five
shuls form a united JEC, Jewish Educational Center. In 1953 he wanted to
enable those who had become disillusioned with socialism and Communism to
re-connect with the Torah of their youth. He would bring the beit midrash
into their homes through a weekly half-hour of study in Yiddish on their
favorite radio station, WEVD. Although a full page could not be covered
in a half hour, he called it Daf Hashavua. Not only did he reach his
intended audience, but a government survey of foreign language programs
found 200,000 listeners. Rav Teitz sent tapes of the broadcasts to
Boston, Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles, Miami, Montreal, and Philadelphia,
initiating the Torah tapes phenomenon. Jews in Russia heard the shiurim
on short-wave radios through Kol Yisrael Lagolah. After he ended the
program in 1988 a new wave of university students asked for tapes in
order to hear pure, elegant Litvishe Yiddish. Scholars enjoyed his
clarity in explaining the gemara; he started each topic with the Torah
verses behind it. His grandson Avi, who learned with Rav Teitz on Shabbos
afternoons, said, “Some people make you feel the gemara is too
complicated for you; Saba makes it clear.” <br>
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I lived in Elizabeth, NJ for 6 years from 1968 to 1974 and still have
warm and positive recollections of Rabbi Teitz. (See
http://tinyurl.com/7sv6u3l ) If you have a basic knowledge of
Yiddish, you will definitely find these shiurim on Makkos given in a
clear, understandable Litvishe Yiddish both enjoyable and
enlightening. Rav Teitz was a master teacher. YL<br><br>
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