[1][3] His father had fled to the United States after the Nazi annexation of Austria in 1938, but returned to Vienna after World War II to recover the family business.
[2][1][4] Teller attended the New England Academy of Torah in Providence, Rhode Island and completed his ninth-grade year in a high school in Israel.
[2][8] Teller began his writing career in 1977[2] when he submitted an article to The Jewish Observer and Moment magazine about his encounter with American college students in Kiryat Shmona, whose program bypassed the traditional religious and cultural centers of Israel in favor of community service in a development town.
and Soul Survivors, introduced the genre of true, contemporary stories promoting the themes of hashgacha pratis (Divine Providence) and human kindness.
[1] A large section of his corpus presents stories on specific ethical concepts, such as judging others favorably (Courtrooms of the Mind), integrity (Above the Bottom Line), and avoiding argumentation and strife (Give Peace a Stance).
[10] Teller's teaching career began as a result of his first article about the American college students in northern Israel, which attracted the interest of the directors of the newly created women's division at Ohr Somayach.
[8] His folksy and entertaining style, combined with his anecdotal stories of Gedolim (Torah leaders),[8] made him a popular instructor at the Ohr Somayach women's division and other English-speaking Jerusalem seminaries for American students.