Gavriel Zev Margolis

Rabbi Gavriel ("Reb Velvele") Zev Margolis (1847, Vilna - 1935, New York City) was an Orthodox Rabbi in the United States known for being an uncompromising traditionalist.

Margolis was ordained by Rabbi Jacob Barit and Rabbi Naphtali Judah Berlin. He taught and preached in Grodno (where his father-in-law Rabbi Nachum Grodno lived), before being invited to Vilna to assist Rabbi Eizele Charif publish his commentary on the Jerusalem Talmud. He later served as the head of the rabbinical courts in Dobrova, Mogilev Province, and Jasionowka.

In 1907, Margolis immigrated to the United States, settling in Boston, where he served as chief rabbi of seven local congregations.

In 1911, due to a dispute about kashrus he moved to New York. Margolis was involved in a fair amount of disputes in his lifetime due to his uncompromising religious views. He was against Zionism, the Yeshiva College, the Aguddas Harabbonim, among others.

References

• Goldman, Yosef. Hebrew Printing in America, 1735-1926, A History and Annotated Bibliography (YGBooks 2006). ISBN 1-59975-685-4.