Young Gedaliah studied in the yeshivot in Ruzhany and Telz until 1891, when his father moved his family to Liverpool, England, where his name was anglicized.

The following year he decided to settle there because he could not support his large family in the United Kingdom and he was appointed rabbi of Ohev Sholom Congregation in Washington, D.C.

As opposed to other American rabbis of the period, his publishing endeavors were supported by the community at large and he issued pamphlets of sermons on an almost annual basis.

He generally published only sermons because he knew that most American Jews would not read his more scholarly works and because "many rabbis and sages from other countries write to me that my approach to Aggadah is the only one that can be used to influence the masses and lure them to their Father in heaven" (Mesamhai Lev, St. Louis, 1925, pp. 5–6).

Though he was unable to carry out his plans right away (Doresh Tov, St. Louis, 1923, p. 5), he did visit again within a year, this time together with Rabbi Zvi Hirsch Masliansky.