Rabbi Mordechai Gifter zt'l was the Rosh Yeshiva of the Telz Yeshiva in
Cleveland, Ohio. Born in 1915, in Portsmouth, Virginia, and raised in
Baltimore, Maryland, Rav Gifter's explosive growth and development was
virtually unprecedented. In 1932, while still a teenager, American
born and raised Mordechai Gifter traveled to Lithuania to study Torah in
the legendary Yeshiva of Telshe. Even as a teen young Mordechai
was recognized as a uniquely gifted student with great talents bestowed
upon him by Hashem. As bright as he was perhaps most astounding was his
relentless drive to become great in Torah. The story is told over how as
a young boy in high school, his wall was covered with pictures of
gedolim. In the center of all of the pictures he left an empty
space with a handwritten note that read: "WHY NOT YOU!"
