Leib Gurwicz

Aryeh Ze'ev (Leib) Gurwicz (1906 where his father, Rabbi Moshe Aharon Kushelevsky served as rabbi. His mother was a direct descendant of the Vilna Gaon.

At the age of thirteen he left home to learn in yeshiva. He sneaked across the border into Lithuania and went to learn at the Vilkomir yeshiva ketana, where he proved himself to be a diligent and capable student. After a year and a half in Vilkomir, he traveled to Vilna in the hopes of seeing his family, who had moved there, however his father had been called back to Malat. In the meantime, Vilna was the new home of the Mir yeshiva, which had relocated deep in Russian territory during World War I. Gurwicz decided to join the Mir yeshiva in Vilna, becoming one of its youngest students. The Brisker Rav valued his student highly and said of him: "Reb Leib knows how to learn". Rabbi Lopian's friend, Rabbi Yerucham Levovitz, recommended that he go to the Brisker Rav and ask for "Leibeleh Malater". He also served as the Rav of the Great Garden Street Synagogue in the East End. wrote to him in London suggesting that he join the staff of the budding Gateshead yeshiva. This yeshiva had grown to 120 students from the influx of refugees following World War II, and now included immigrant students whose learning skills were much greater than those of boys from the East End, since the former had studied in Europe's leading yeshivas. Under his leadership, the number of students increased many times over, and Gateshead became Europe's primary Torah center. for nearly four years, until his death in 1982.

Death and succession Gurwicz suffered a stroke on 20 October 1982 and died later that day. The funeral was held on Thursday, 21 October.

He was succeeded as rosh yeshiva by his son, Avrohom Gurwicz.

Works Rashei Shearim (, literally, "Gateshead") (1971) — a compilation of the main lectures which he delivered in the yeshiva. Arza Devei Rav (, "Pillar of the Beth Midrash") (1979) — Talmudic discourses containing hundreds of original Torah thoughts (chiddushim). The first word of the title is based on his name, אריה זאב (Aryeh Ze'ev). Meorei Sheorim (, "Illuminating Gates"), a collection of his mussar and hashkafa (Jewish philosophy) talks, was published posthumously by his students.