Rabbi Elchanon Tzvi Guterman
ืืืื ื ืฆืื ื"ืจ ืฉืืขืื ืืจืื
Chief Rabbi, Scranton, PA and Lackawanna CountyDate of Death:
Wed. October 19, 1966 -
Cheshvan 1 5727
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Directions to Kever: Dalton Jewish Cemetery which servers both Scranton and Wilkes-Barre, as well as other surrounding communities, is located in Dalton, Pennsylvania. Location: Section: Linden, up the hill on the right side
Name Listed on Cemetery Database: Name on tombstone: Rabbi Henry Guterman
Biographical Notes:
Photo Caption: Rav Guterman introduced a daily Gemara Shiur (lecture) in 1911 which ran for over 50 years, a groundbreakingย concept here in the United States at that time.
Photo Caption: Memorial Dinner in New York for the Slabodka Yeshiva, 1938, Credit: MCA
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R’ Moshe Feinstein mentions him in at least one of his teshuvos (about mechitza and Bima B’Emtza) (paraphrasing) “no need to be writing to me, you have an esteemed Rav in your own town and you can be comfortable with his Psak”.
My Father OB”M was a Shochet in Scranton recieved his kabballa from him in the 1950’s and my parents being immigrants with no older relatives asked him to be my Sandek. I remember him well though he was niftar when I was very young. He would visit us at the Scranton Hebrew Day School and “farher” all of the classes. Always had a warm smile. Older folks could probably shed a lot more light. Probably a great subject for a biography especially in how he related to the greater community, Jewish and Gentile.
Picture of Rabbi Guterman z”l on page 19
http://books.google.com/books?id=ffOw_OQnG3wC&printsec=frontcover&dq=JEWS+OF+SCRANTON&source=bl&ots=T9AM7WGxzl&sig=92A3BZPQMPID1AjYzPM8qqmbTNU&hl=en&ei=BDovTaapN4qtgQfx7dBb&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CCoQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q&f=false
http://books.google.com/books?id=ffOw_OQnG3wC&lpg=PP1&ots=T9AM7WGxzl&dq=JEWS%20OF%20SCRANTON&pg=PA19#v=onepage&q&f=false
A sefer by R. gutermans grandson, Rabbi Elchonon Shaff quotes a beautiful pshat from one of his drashos here http://hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=49191&st=&pgnum=332 (and contintuing onto page 333.) I recall seeing Rabbi Shaff quote R. guterman in the intro to his sefer on Brachos birchasa vishirasa.
Rabbi Elchanan Tzvi Guterman (I’m putting the usual spelling here to help people find the page in a search — Rabbi Shoff is named after him) was also known as Rabbi Henry Guterman.
He was a talmid of the Slabodka Yeshiva in Lithuania around the turn of the 20th century; very close with Rav Zvi Pesach Frank (probably a distant relative) and with Rav Dovid Lebowitz (Yeshivas Chofetz Chaim — Rabbi Guterman was a masmich for the yeshiva).