Gifter, who was born in Virginia, graduated from New York’s Yeshiva College, following which he went to Lithuania to continue his Torah studies. In 1945, he became a teacher at the Telz Yeshiva, which had moved from Lithuania, later becoming its head, a position which he occupied until his death. In addition, Gifter had lectured on Jewish law at Western Reserve University in Cleveland.
Rabbi Binyamin Sorotzkin, head of the Imre Baruch Yeshiva at Kiryat Telz-Stone near Jerusalem, described Gifter as one of the most outstanding leaders of American Orthodoxy. He added that Gifter had been an outstanding speaker, with a masterly command of English, and that he had been the natural choice as keynote speaker for any major event.
Had Gifter not been ill for the last six or seven years of his life, he would no doubt have been accepted as the definitive Torah adjudicator in the US, Sorotzkin said.
Based on an article by Haim Shapiro on the Jerusalem Post web site