Rav Gavriel Zev Wolf (Velvel) Margolis zt"l
הרב גבריאל זאב וואלף מרגליות זצ"ל
Elul 11 , 5695
Rav Gavriel Zev Wolf (Velvel) Margolis zt"l
Rav Gavriel Zev Margolis, or Rav Velvele as he was commonly known, was born in Vilna, Lithuania, on the twenty-seventh of Cheshvan 5608/1847. His father was Rav Yechiel Yitzchok, and he was a great-grandson of Rav Yechiel Halpern, the Seder HaDoros. As a young child he attended the Yeshiva of Rav Yaakov Beirat of Vilna for three years, and then he went to the Yeshiva in Volozhin headed by Rav Naftoli Zvi Yehuda Berlin, the Netziv.
In 5626/1866 Rav Velvele married the daughter of Rav Nachum Kaplan, the famed Rebbe of the Chofetz Chaim, and they settled in their hometown of Vilna. In 5629/1869 he moved to Grodno, where he delivered daily shiurim in Gemora.
During his years in Grodno he was given semicha by Rav Yaakov Beirat. In his semicha Rav Beirat wrote: “He became great and greater still; unlike the greatness of students who succeed in their studies after five years, in a short time he surpassed his friends; they chased him but could not catch him, because his stomach was filled with Talmud and halacha.”
That same year he moved back to Vilna, where he assisted Rav Yehoshua Yitzchok of Slonim (Rav Eizele Charif) in the preparation and printing of his work on Talmud Yerushalmi, Noam Yerushalmi.
Upon the petira of his father-in-law, he was invited to serve as Grodno’s chief Rav. He held this position for close to twenty-seven years.
As chief Rav, Rav Margolis enjoyed a close relationship with Rav Yitzchok Elchonon Spector, and was active in Jewish community and world affairs.
Rav Margolis was initially a strong supporter of the Chovevei Tzion movement and attended the second Zionist Congress in Basel in 1898. But as the leaders of the Zionist movement became increasingly anti-religious, he not only distanced himself from the movement but attacked it outright.
It was his involvement in world affairs that forced Rav Margolis to leave Europe for America. Among the Russian revolutionaries of 1905, were Jews who did not appreciate Rav Margolis’s constant public attacks denouncing them. As a result of harassment and death threats, in 5667/1907 he accepted the position of chief Rav of Boston, Massachusetts.
Rav Margolis liked his congregants in Boston and praised them highly in the hakdoma to his sefer, Toras Gavriel.
Nevertheless, in 1911 Rav Margolis moved to New York City, accepting the position of spiritual leader of the Adas Yisrael Congregation (United Hebrew Community of New York). He held this position for the rest of his life.
In 1912, Rav Margolis established the Agudas HaYehudim Ha-Orthdoksim, which in 1920 became the Knesset HoRabbonim Ha-Orthdoksim d’America, and he served as its president.
Despite constant challenges, Rav Margolis established an elementary school with an enrollment of close to two hundred children, and an old-age home.
Rav Margolis was niftar on the tenth of Elul 5695/1935, just a few months short of his eighty-eighth birthday. He was buried in the Old Montefiore Cemetery in Saint Albans, Queens. His levaya was attended by close to four thousand people, many of them prominent Rabbonim.
Among his seforim are Shem Olam, Toras Gavriel, Chruzei Margolios, Agudas Eizov and Ginzei Margolios on Esther, Shir HaShirim, Rus, Koheles and Eicha.
Yehi zichro baruch.
This article was graciously provided by Reb Baruch Amsel, who is locating the kevarim of Rabbanim who were buried in the United States over the last 150 years and recording biographical information about them. Anyone with information on Kivrei Tzaddikim in America should please call Reb Baruch Amsel at 917-854-7387 or email him at Baruch@amselias.com.
www.hamodia.com/features/day-history-10-elulseptember-5/