Rav Eliyahu Guttmacher, son of Rav Shlomo, was born Rosh Chodesh Menachem Av, 5556 (1796) in Burk in the province of Posen. His father sent him at a young age to study Torah in the Yeshivah of Shalziya, and later he studied for many years in the Yeshivah of Rabitsch. At the age of 19 he transferred to the great yeshivah of Rav Akiva Eiger in Posen, where he studied diligently for four years, earning the affection and praise of the Rosh Yeshiva.
He attached himself to his Rosh yeshiva and drank thirstily from his fountain of knowledge, hanging on his every word and nuance; and he was greatly influenced by his great rebbe’s derech halimud (methodology of study).
He began writing down his chiddushei Torah, a practice he continued his entire life. Rav Eliyahu was a loner by nature and often studied in hisbodedus and solitude.
When he discovered a copy of the holy Zohar among his rebbe’s sefarim, with margins filled with handwritten notes, he realized that Rabbi Akiva Eiger studied Kabbalah as well, although he had previously believed him to be opposed to it. This was the turning point at which Rav Eliyahu also began to study Kabbalah and was enchanted by its mystic and esoteric teachings. He eventually developed his own personal approach to the main topics of Jewish philosophy, amongst them, man and his position and mission in the world, the Jewish people, Torah, Eretz Yisrael, and the final future redemption.
Through the influence of sifrei Kabbalah, Rav Eliyahu became drawn to the chassidic movement as well. When he was appointed Rav in Pelshan in 5582 (1821), he began to live by the ways of mussar and self-purification, which was the path to personal redemption as he understood it. He cloistered himself from the pleasures of the physical world and its desires. He devoted his days and nights to Torah study and acts of chesed. He gave away wages to the poor, supported orphans and widows, and did his best to help the downtrodden in any way he could.
Yet he felt that all of this was still insufficient. He would record each day in a journal what he had done and achieved that day and at the end of his day he would review his accomplishments, critically rebuking himself to improve in the future.
Rav Eliyahu founded a yeshivah in Pelshan, numbering some four hundred talmidim, whom he sought to educate according to his methods to create a generation of pure scholars and masters of mussar. Whenever he did not realize his ambitions, he blamed himself, seeing his own shortcomings as the root of any failure.
While his influence in Pelshan was great and he was held in high esteem, his reputation reached its zenith when he moved to Greiditz, the seat of his second rabbinate, in 5599 (1838). There, his self-refinement burgeoned, as he would enter the forests in hisbodedus to pour out his soul in prayer before his Maker.
Word soon spread that a tzaddik had arrived and the masses flocked to him, seeking advice, his blessings and his wondrous cures for ailments and maladies.
Rav Eliyahu was taken aback at the thought of being made into a chassidishe rebbe and he did his best to dissuade them from coming. He went so far as to take out an advertisement in the journal ‘HaMaggid’ (5634, gilyon 12) declaring that his blessings were only the berachos of a hedyot (i.e. mediocre person) and that no one should henceforth come to him, neither men nor women. He concluded by stating that he hoped his prayers were indeed accepted by Hashem, but if they were it was only because he never selfishly davened for his own sake alone, but rather prayed on behalf of all of Klal Yisrael. But the advertisement didn’t help, and the number of his followers grew daily until he’d reluctantly assumed the role of a rebbe in every sense. Tales of his many wonders and miracles became oral legends, some of which were later printed as Hadras Eliyahu, later translated into Yiddish as Der Greiditzer.
His mystical studies led him to the belief that there was a tripartite relationship between the Jewish people, the Torah and Hashem, wherein Eretz Yisrael was seen as the focal point of this relationship and seat of power. Due to our sins, we were exiled from our land and the three-part relationship was severed at its core. As soon as these parts could be reunited, the redemption would take place. Rav Eliyahu believed that each person’s own spiritual refinement would lead to his personal redemption, which then, combining with that of others, would produce a nation of pure redeemed individuals, forming a cohesive unit that would hasten the coming of the final redemption. He also believed we had to exert ourselves to accelerate its coming as soon as possible because the nation and people grew weaker in exile day by day and the task would grow progressively harder.
Thoughts of the final redemption gave him no rest, and he decided that the only way to achieve the goal was to go and dwell in Eretz Yisrael, for only there was it possible to reunite the three core foundations as they had been. Therefore, when he received from Rav Tzvi Hirsch Kalischer, a former colleague of Rav Akiva Eiger’s yeshiva, his kuntres, Derishas Tzion, Rav Eliyahu heard its call and plan to return to resettle the land as a possible answer to his dilemma.
In 5616 (1855) Rav Kalischer designated Rav Eliyahu as Nasi (presiding authority of) Eretz Yisrael. The rabbanim in Jerusalem sent him halachic inquiries regarding korbanos, and in the winter of 5620 (1859), he penned and disseminated his letter, Igeres Hakodesh, with Rav Yaakov Etlinger of Altuna as cosignatory, calling on the Jews of the diaspora to band together and uplift the holy banner of Torah to study Toras Eretz Yisrael and establish batei midrash and yeshivas for this purpose. They desired to lead a minyan of talmidei chachamim to settle in Eretz Yisrael, hoping others would follow, which would transform the land into a “vaad lechachamim, gedolim and gaonim.” He had the vision that perhaps “one day every mother and father will send their children to the Holy Land of Eretz Yisrael to study Torah and pure Yiras Hashem and wisdom.” His hopes and dreams were indeed fulfilled. He supported Rav Yaakov Mordechai Hirschenson to maintain his small yeshivah in Tzfas and he also purchased a small courtyard in Yerushalayim, where he founded a beis midrash named Shnos Eliyahu, and the Sukkas Shalom and Maor Yaakov yeshivos. He exerted himself to support them until his final days. The Jews of Jerusalem, including its mekuablim, affectionately mirrored his love and appreciation and when Rav Eliyahu passed away, they authored a eulogy and published it as Aliyos Eliyahu in his memory. Rav Eliyahu saw the new freedoms and equality given Jews worldwide as a Heavenly sign and hoped that it would “redeem all those living in the diaspora, for our medicines and drugs will heal them all and through the salvation of those who dwell in the holy land, theirs will come as well, and the light shall shine over the entire world as it once did at the apex of Creation.”
Though a prolific writer, Rav Eliyahu did not publish any sefarim in his lifetime. His works that were later published include: his chiddushim on Mishnayos and sugyos of Shas, Tzafnas Pa’aneach on the Aggada of Rabba bar Bar Chanah in Gemara Bava Basra, and assorted responsa. Shalom B’Pamalya Shel Maalah, to reconcile contradictions in the writings of the Beis Yosef and Rama. Sukkas Shalom, containing prayers for the deceased. Many handwritten manuscripts remain in university libraries and family collections. Lately, Machon Yerushalayim has begun publishing some of these, such as his chiddushim and pilpulim on Shas, in two volumes. Aderes Eliyahu, a collection of his response, has been published by Mosad HaRav Kook in two volumes.
Rav Eliyahu Guttmacher passed away on the 24th of Tishrei 5635 (1874), and was laid to rest in Greiditz.
He left behind four learned Torah scholars as sons: Rav Tzvi Hirsch, who succeeded him in Palshan, Rav Meir, Rav Zelig and Rav Yaakov. All are cited in his sefarim within his chiddushim and teshuvos. Rav Tzvi Hirsch, who also studied under Rav Akiva Eiger, passed away in his father’s lifetime, on the 24th of Shevat, 5631 (1870). His father eulogized him and printed his son’s sefarim, Nachlas Tzvi, chiddushim on Yevamos and Kerisos, and Kan Meforeshes on Kinim, in which he composed a famed tefilla and segula for its study.
