Simcha Zissel Ziv threats to traditional Judaism and to strengthen the cause of the Musar movement, Simcha Zissel decided to open a school in Kelm, the Kelm Talmud Torah. At the time, Simcha Zissel was almost forty years old. The Talmud Torah opened in approximately 1865 and attracted young students, mainly thirteen and fourteen-year-olds. Simcha Zissel’s teacher – Rabbi Yisrael Salanter – had taught Simcha Zissel the importance of Musar and so the Talmud Torah aimed not only to enhance its student’s Torah knowledge but also to shape their personalities and develop their character traits using the Musar approach. Indeed, much of daily
Simcha Zissel Ziv leaving his son, Rabbi Nochum Zev Ziv to run the Talmud Torah in Grobin. Young men from Kelm and the surrounding areas flocked to study under Simcha Zissel and the town once again became a center of Musar. From his home in Kelm, Simcha Zissel continued to play a role in the running of the Talmud Torah in Grobin. This, however, began to be too difficult and Simcha Zissel decided to close the yeshiva. He sent a member of his family to consult his teacher, Rabbi Yisrael Salanter who was living in Germany at the time. Salanter disagreed with the