Chaim Mordechai Katz
| Chaim Mordechai Katz | |
|---|---|
| Position | Rosh Yeshiva |
| Yeshiva | Telz Yeshiva |
| Began | 1954 |
| Ended | November 17, 1964 |
| Predecessor | Eliyahu Meir Bloch |
| Successor |
Baruch Sorotzkin &Mordechai Gifter |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1894 Shadova, Lithunania |
| Died | November 17, 1964 Ulanbataar, Mongolia |
| Nationality | Lithuanian American |
| Denomination | Haredi Orthodox Judaism |
| Spouse | Perel Leah Bloch Chaya Kravitz Esther Mindle Mandel |
| Children | Yaakov Zev (Velvel) Katz Rachel Tress Avneir Katz |
Chaim Mordechai Katz (Hebrew: חיים מרדכי כץ; 1894–1964) was an Orthodox rabbi, the Rosh Yeshiva of the Telshe Yeshiva in Cleveland, and among American Jewry's foremost religious leaders.
Katz was born in 1894 in Shadova, Lithunania. As a young man, he studied in the yeshiva in Shadova, under the tutelage of the town's rabbi and Rosh Yeshiva, Rabbi Yosef Leib Bloch. In 1910, he went to study in the Knesses Beis Yitzchak yeshiva in Slobodka for a year, following which, in 1911, he returned to study under Bloch, who had been appointed as Chief Rabbi and Rosh Yeshiva in Telz.
In 1914, Katz went to the Volozhin Yeshiva for two years where he was ordained by Rabbi Refael Shapiro, the son-in-law of the Netziv. In 1916 he studied under Rabbi Shlomo Polachek, the renowned "Maitziter Illuy". In 1918 he returned to Telz, where he married Perel Leah, Bloch's daughter.
In 1920, Katz assisted his father in law in the founding of a preparatory school for young men (Mechina), which would prepare younger students for study in the yeshiva proper. Katz was appointed director of the Mechina. In 1922, a postgraduate institute (Kollel) was founded in Telz and he was appointed Head of the Institute.
In 1930, Katz's father, wife, third oldest child (Shmuel, aged six) and father in law died. The following year he married Chaya Kravitz, Bloch's niece.
In 1934, Katz was one of the founders of the Zeirei Agudath Israel in Lithuania and he served as the head of the Board of Action (Va'ad Hapoel). Together with his brother in law, Rabbi Eliyahu Meir Bloch, he also served as one of the editors of the Agudah newspaper in Lithuania: "Dos Yiddishe Lebben".
He participated in the first Knessiah Gedolah of the Agudath Israel in 1923 and at the third Knessiah Gedolah in 1937 he was appointed a member of the International Action Committee (Va'ad Hapoel Ha'olami).
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