Last Motzei Shabbat, Klal Yisrael lost a giant of a man with the passing of Rav Elazar Mayer Teitz, zt”l, the Rav of the city of Elizabeth.

I am a graduate of RTMA (JEC) yeshiva high school of Elizabeth, which stands for Rav Teitz Mesivta Academy, named after his father, the legendary Rav Pinchas Mordechai Teitz, zt”l.

I have early memories of Rav Elazar Teitz from my high school years. I remember seeing a tall, majestic rabbi, often wearing a blue or grey suit with a matching grey or blue hat, walking down Elmora Avenue outside JEC. As the city’s mara d’asra, Rav Teitz took responsibility for its shuls, yeshiva, mikvaos and kashrus. He was known to make unexpected appearances at local kosher eateries to check their kashrus standards. On any given day, the non-Jewish Dunkin’ Donuts cashier in the kosher Dunkin’ might have had the great distinction of meeting Rav Teitz.

To us high school students, he was a scary man. I recently heard a student recall that after gym class, a classmate had forgotten to put his yarmulke back on before getting a drink at the water fountain. Suddenly, he felt a hand covering his head. He turned to his friends, petrified, and whispered, “He’s right behind me, isn’t he?” When the boy turned around, he saw Rav Teitz towering over him. The boy apologized profusely, but Rav Teitz simply said in his calm yet firm way, “Don’t apologize to me. Apologize to Him,” as he pointed up toward the sky.

At the time, we did not fully understand that we were in the presence of a giant.

In the early days of the yeshiva, Rav Teitz managed all its day-to-day operations—the budget, the facilities, and the countless details required to keep an institution running. Knowing the yeshiva was in the hands of someone with such an acute attention to detail allowed his father to focus on his communal work.

Rav Teitz’s loyalty to his yeshiva and his unwavering integrity were incredible. In the early days of the basketball team, the yeshiva did not have a bus driver to take the team to away games, so Rav Teitz drove the bus himself. Normally, one would have taken the New Jersey Turnpike, but Rav Teitz instead took a roundabout route through back roads. When the boys asked him why, he responded, “I need to avoid the toll. I cannot frivolously spend the yeshiva’s money. The money of the yeshiva is mamon gavoah—it is sacred tzedakah money. If we can use it to pay for another student’s tuition, I cannot waste it on a toll.”

Rav Teitz was a dedicated Daf Yomi maggid shiur since 1980 and completed Shas multiple times. He was a talmid chacham par excellence. In addition to his mastery of Torah, he earned a Ph.D. in mathematics and taught at Rutgers University. He combined his love for Torah and mathematics in gematria and was famous for creating intricate gematrias based on a bar mitzvah boy’s name, weaving them into the celebration. Even more astounding was his ability to tie in gematrias at a bris—without knowing the baby’s name beforehand.

Rav Teitz came from a long line of rabbanim, his family traces their lineage back over 20 generations of rabbis. His deep roots to our mesorah connected him to traditions spanning centuries. He possessed an incredible intellect and a gifted mind. Yet, with all his greatness, when in his presence, I felt his humility and his deep concern for others.

At a wedding, when given the kibbud of reading the ketubah at a chuppah, he would read it very quickly. This required an advanced understanding of the ketubah, and there were times when he noticed a pesul (invalidation) and wrote a new one from memory on the spot. But his speed wasn’t just due to his expertise—it was out of concern for the chasan and kallah, who traditionally fast on their wedding day. Rav Teitz did not want to prolong their fast even 15 seconds longer.

Rav Teitz had tremendous empathy for people and was a trusted address for those seeking a get, a Jewish divorce. He conducted the process with dignity, grace and understanding. He was a great defender and advocate for agunas long before this was even a term. Remarkably, he never charged for administering gittin (or kiddushin, for that matter). Instead, he put the money into a tzedakah fund. As his brother-in-law, Rav Yosef Blau, told me,
“Rav Teitz wouldn’t make money off people’s tzaros (pain).”

A week before his passing, Rav Teitz reached out to Rabbi Haim Jachter, a member of his Beit Din (from his hospital bed), to address a situation that arose. Even in frail health, Rav Teitz was concerned about others.

As was mentioned by his nephew, Rabbi Benyomin Blau, Rav Teitz could have been one of the greatest roshei yeshiva of any yeshiva. He could have pursued a distinguished career as a brilliant professor of mathematics, as he did for a time. But he chose instead to dedicate his life to continuing his father’s work—to serving his community, his yeshiva and Klal Yisrael.

May Hashem give us the strength and wisdom to continue his work.

Shmuel Lesher, a graduate of RTMA (JEC), is the assistant rabbi of Beth Avraham Yoseph of Toronto Congregation (BAYT).