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Yehudah Aryeh Leib Alter

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Yehudah Aryeh Leib Alter
TitleGerrer Rebbe
Personal
Born
Yehudah Aryeh Leib Alter

(1847-04-15)15 April 1847
Warsaw,Poland
Died11 January 1905(1905-01-11)(aged 57)
Ger,Poland
ReligionJudaism
SpouseYocheved Rivka Kaminer, Reyzl Halberstam
ChildrenAvraham Mordechai Alter
Yitzchak Meir Alter
Moshe Betzalel Alter
Chanokh Chayim Alter
Feyge Lewin
Yisrael Alter
Nechemya Alter
Menachem Mendel Alter
Noach Alter
Esther Biderman
Parents
  • Avraham Mordechai Alter (I) (father)
  • Ester Landsztajn (mother)
Jewish leader
PredecessorChanoch Heynekh HaKohen of Aleksander
SuccessorAvraham Mordechai Alter
Began1870
Ended11 January 1905
Main workSfas Emes
DynastyGer

Yehudah Aryeh Leib Alter(Hebrew:יהודה אריה ליב אלתר,15 April 1847 – 11 January 1905), also known by the title of his main work, theSfas Emes(Ashkenazic Pronunciation) orSefat Emetשפת אמת‎ (Modern Hebrew), was aHasidicrabbiwho succeeded his grandfather, RabbiYitzchak Meir Alter,as theAv beis din(head of the rabbinical court) and Rav ofGóra Kalwaria,Poland (known inYiddishas the town of Ger), and succeeded RabbiChanokh Heynekh HaKohen LevinofAleksanderasRebbeof theGerrer Hasidim.

Biography[edit]

Early years[edit]

He was born in 1847 (5608) and named Yehudah Leib; he was known to family and friends as Leybl. His father, Rabbi Avraham Mordechai Alter, died when Yehudah Leib was only eight years old, and his mother Mrs. Esther Alter (née Landsztajn) died before that.[1]Orphaned of both parents, he was brought up by his grandparents, Rabbi Yitzchak Meir Alter (known as theChiddushei Harim) and his wife. When he was about ten years old, his grandfather took him to visit theKotzker Rebbe,which left a lifelong impression on him.

He married Yocheved Rivka, daughter of Yehuda Leib ( "Yidl" ) Kaminer. In order not to have the same name as his father-in-law, his own name was changed to Yehudah Aryeh Leib. He is said to have been attached to the name Yehudah, and was upset at not being able to use it as his name any longer.

Leadership[edit]

When his grandfather, Yitzchak Meir, died in 1866, many of the Gerrer Hasidim sought to bestow the mantle of leadership upon eighteen-year-old Yehudah Aryeh Leib. He refused that position, and leadership went to Rabbi Chanokh Heynekh HaKohen Levin of Aleksandrów Łódzki. However, after the death of the latter in 1870, the Hasidim succeeded in gaining Alter's assent to become their Rebbe.[2]

Death and burial[edit]

During theRusso-Japanese War,many of his young followers were drafted into the Russian Army and sent to the battlefields inManchuria.Alter was very worried over these devotees and would constantly write to them. His health suffered, and he died at the age of 57 on 11 January 1905 (5Shevat5665).

When news of the Admor's petirah (passing away) spread, so many people rushed to Ger yesterday morning that although the railway dispatched extra trains there was hardly any space in the cars and thousands of people were still left without means to travel...

One (tram) car with seating for 44 people held over 200, not even leaving any standing room, and in another car some people fainted as a result of the overcrowded conditions...

When the time for tefillas Mincha arrived, all of the funeral-goers, 20,000 in number, stood in a field and davened Minchah together...

The brief words spoken by the Rav of Sochachov made a powerful impression.

— source[3]

Succession[edit]

Alter was succeeded as Gerrer Rebbe by his son, RabbiAvraham Mordechai Alter.Most of Gerrer hasidim followed Avraham Mordechai, but some chasidim followed the brother-in-law of Alter - RabbiPinchas Menachem Justmanof Piltz.

Lasting influence[edit]

Alter was one of the greatestTorahscholars of his generation, teaching students such as Rabbi Nachman Shlomo Greenspan and many others. His output was prodigious, and his works (all entitledSfas Emes) deal with theTalmud,the ethics of theMidrash,and mysticism of theZohar.

His Torah homilies as delivered to his hasidim, and arranged according to the weeklyparashahand the festivals, were the first to be published posthumously under the nameSfas Emes.The title was taken from the closing words of the final piece he wrote (Sfas Emes,Vayechi 5665). Hischiddushim(original Torah thoughts) on many Talmudic tractates, and onYoreh De'ah,have been published under the same name.

TheSochatchoverRebbe, RabbiAvrohom Bornsztain(known as theAvnei Nezer), a leading Torah scholar andposekin his own right, is said to have maintained two bookcases — one forRishonim(earlier commentators) and another forAcharonim(later commentators). The volumes of theSfas Emes,written in the late 1800s, were to be found in his bookcase containing the Rishonim. To study some portions of the Talmud without theSfas Emesis unthinkable to the modern-day scholar.[4]

TheSfas Emes Yeshivain Jerusalem is named after him and includes his teachings in the curriculum.

His sayings[edit]

One of the greatest religious problems is that people fear having a relationship with God and consequently distance themselves from Him. Just as angels serve God without fear despite their lower status in comparison to God, so too human beings should take their model (walk amongst them) and not be afraid of developing a relationship with God and serving Him. This represents a wholeness that we as human beings are capable of only if we think of ourselves as walking amongst angels.

— Sfas Emes,Parshat Beha'alotecha 5636

Bibliography[edit]

  • Arthur Green,The Language of Truth: The Torah Commentary of Sefat Emet(Jewish Publication Society, 1998).
  • Articles by Dr. Yoram Jacobson.
  • Exile and Redemption in Gur Hasidism (Heb.), Da'at, 2-3 (1978–1979), pp. 175–215.
  • Truth and Faith in Gur Hasidic Thought (Heb.), in: Studies in Jewish Mysticism, Philosophy and Ethical Literature Presented to Isaiah Tishby, Jerusalem, 1986, pp. 593–616.
  • The Sanctity of the Mundane in the Hasidic School of Gur - Studies in the Understanding of the Sabbath in the Homilies of Sefat Emet (Heb.), in: Hasidism in Poland, Jerusalem, 1994, pp. 241–277.
  • From Youth to Leadership and from Kabbalah to Hasidism - Stages in the Spiritual Development of the Author of Sefat Emet (Heb.), in: Rivkah Shatz-Uffenheimer Memorial Volume, II, Jerusalem, 1996, pp. 429–446.
  • Primordial Chaos and Creation in the Thought of Gur Hasidism, or: the Sabbath that Preceded Creation (Polish), in Duchowosc Zydowska w Polsce, Kraków, 2000, pp. 151–171.

References[edit]

  1. ^"Rabbi Pinkas Menakem Justman's Historical and Family Documents: Esther Alter (Landsztajn) (C.1816 - 1849)".9 February 2014.
  2. ^Deiah veHadiburArchived2007-08-12 at theWayback Machine.
  3. ^IN-DEPTH FEATURES: The Sefas Emes
  4. ^Rabbi Menachem Lubinsky, in theJewish Observer.

External links[edit]

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