לב שמחה

גער - אחרי תש"ח

I'll go out on a limb here and say that this these pictures was for a fundraising effort for Yeshiva Sfas Emes. Otherwise, it'd be kind of strange that they posed for a picture like this by the Imrei Emes' tziyun. In those days it was still common. Today, cooler heads have prevailed. Also, photoshop works wonders, you needn't actually have a group of boys pose in front of a holy place. Many of you may know that the IE was buried in the courtyard of the Yeshiva Sfas Emes as a temporary measure, being that it was during the War of Independence and Har Hazeisim was closed no other cemetery was readily available. Once other places became available it was decided by his children not to move him.

The many faces of Ger, 5778

More Belzer prohibitions...

Hirshel, here's another Belzer prohibition for you:

In Belz they did not say shir hashirim.  I never saw my elders, who had a strong connection to Belz, say shir hashirim. (I never knew why ) I guess it was part of the Belz in them. I was surprised to see that - or NOT to see that - because in Oiberland, where my family is from, and by other chasidim it was very holy to say it. After the mikvah, with the peyos still wet. Mamash a gevalt! In the footnote here they note a certain Sefas Emes (which by the way was not on the recommended learning list in old Belz, they would rather get caught learn Arugas haBosem) in Pesach that on regular weeks the parables of shir hashirim are a bad influence for people who are megushem. It's probably the reason why Belz avoided it too. But they never said that outright. But in Ger they were more explicit.

POTD - צוויי פיילישער רבי'ס

L-R, Reb Itzikel Of Amnshinon-Boro Park; Reb Yankel Alter, then son of the Gerrer Rebbe, currently Gerrer Rebbe. Reb Itzikel was a nephew of Reb Shimele Amshinover (who was in Japan and Shanghai during WW2) and had a small shtiebel on 15th Avenue in Boro Park. You could've lived around the corner your whole life and never seen or heard of him. That's how low-key he was.

And here's a sefer, recently published, about his father zt"l and older brother hy"d:

הנאום המפתיע של בנו של ה'פני מנחם' במעמד סיום הרמב"ם

הגר"ש אלתר מנסה להסביר להליטוואקעס מי זה הי' הרבי הבית ישראל

הגר"ש אלתר על הבית ישראל by Hirshel Tzig on Scribd

רוח הקודש פונעם געררער רבי'ן דער אמרי אמת זצוק"ל

Reb Hersh:

In today's קנאות era where the trend is to follow whoever can produce better curse lines on Israel from Shmuel Auerbach's movement to hamodia editorials, these Rebbes like Reb Avrohom Mordechai of Ger's views of pro State are yesterday's style.  No customers for it.  They just don't sell. In the book ימי מגורי he recalls what Reb Avrohom Mordechai said from tehillim before the creation of the State, when things looked very bleak, mamesh prophecy on the new country,  and he saw a big yom tov coming. I'm not so sure it shtims with your Rebbes' views, both RYY and the Rebbe, but it's always good to stick it to the "kanoyim."

Marienbad 1927

Source:Google A&C

Der Gerer Rabbi auf Urlaub: Am Warschauer Hauptbahnhof bahnen ihm Polizisten einen Weg durch die Menschenmenge. 1920 ?

Historic images - The Gerrer Rebbe in Trieste, Italy on his way to Eretz Yisroel - c. 1923

Next to him is his shvogger the Bendiner Rov. I'm not 100% certain about the dates. Did the Imrei Emes visit EY in 1923? It sounds right, just not sure. We can look it up and verify.

From Wiki:
בשנת תרפ"ד (1924) ביקר פעם נוספת בארץ, והסביר כי "כמו חסיד שמוכרח למדי פעם לבקר את רבו" כך הוא "מוכרח בכל כמה שנים לבקר את האם - ארץ ישראל".לנסיעה זו הצטרפו גיסו רבי חנוך צבי לוין מבנדין, חתנו יצחק מאיר לוין והאדמו"ר מסוקולוב-קוצק רבי יצחק זליג מורגנשטרן. ביקור זה נמשך כשישה שבועות שבהם ביקרו בירושלים, צפת, טבריה, חברון, ותל אביב[] ועודדו את החסידים העולים שנתקלו בקשיי פרנסה. במהלך הביקור רכש יחד עם חסידיו מקרקעין בשכונת קריית שמואל בטבריה, ומלוויו השתתפו בסיור במקומה העתידי של בני ברק יחד עם מייסד העיר יצחק גרשטנקורן. לאחר חזרתו לפולין אמר: "דעתי היא, שאם יעלו עכשיו לארץ ישראל כחמש מאות משפחות אמידות מאנשי שלומנו, נכבוש את הארץ בחומר וברוח".. במהלך ביקורו זה ניסה ללא הצלחה לפשר במחלוקת בין הרב קוק והרב זוננפלד

Pnei Menachem 20th yohrtzeit - Kfar Chabad magazine interview

Hirshel:

The Alter family, more specifically the children of the Rebbe the Pnei Menachem, have a certain gene that keeps them from holding back what they have on their chest. They need to say it, come what may. It's Really not Gerer style. This story is so typical. A chareidi family coming to a Chabad house to stay for Shabbos but they still think the shluchim can not be trusted on the food. They want to cook their own food and bake their own challah. And get this: here is is a new low; They ask for mevushal wine since the other wine would be nesech. He also claims his father was from all the sons the real mamshich of the Imrei Emes. Besides the nigleh in his talks he was a very hartzige person like the Imrei Emes. He said there are still a lot of shiurim from his father that he wrote himself, they need a lot of work.

?מי בתמונה

????משמאל הרב ר' בונים אלתר, מימין הרב מפוניבז'? ובאמצע

החזן ר' דוד ווערדיגער ע"ה

Enjoy some of the old-time favorites here

even more albums

 A brief biography

some good ol' fashioned Gerrer male chauvinism for your seder table

Early Shabbos in and Ivrit in Munkatch...

Received via e-mail:

For some reason by Chasidim they have a sensitivity against early Shabbos, maybe its too ba'al batish. ( I don't necessarily agree with that line; there are Halachic issues - HR) In the attachment I have a story of a chossid who explained the benefits of early Shabbos, how pragmatic it is, and the Gerrer Rebbe approved it! He was always on the pragmatic side; as one Rov who asks to remain nameless eloquently put it, if not for his (The Gerrer Rebbe's - HT) beard with the Kultenes and his banged up hat, they would make him in to a reformer.. the levush saved the day. In the other attachment you see the back of the Matzieva of the Darkei Tshuva's mother, look at the way they call her Savta Kadisha.. I always knew Savta to be be modern Hebrew... even in Munkatch the קליפה had a grip...

POTD - א איד אין ווארשא

Source

I wonder what kept him frum... The Agudah?

יארצייט - דער רבי דער "פני מנחם" זצ"ל

פני מנחם - שנה אחרונה

דור השביעי - חסידישע אושפיזין - נוסח גור

It seems to me, an uninitiated one, who didn't grow up in Ger, but did go over to Lubavitch, that I've heard these words somewhere. Something about there being a significance to the number 7, and that the 7 Rebbeyim symbolize the שבעה רועים. But it seems like that concept was publicized some time before, and that it wasn't the Rebbe who "came up with it." Ger seems to maybe have taken it one step further by proclaiming der Rebbe di Imrei Emes as Dovid Malka Meshicheh, and use his Yohrtzeit as proof. He says here in the name of the Sfas Emes that the geulah would come in the IE's time, and that if not the complete geulah then at least the Aschalta. Noted Gerrer Chossid Rav Mendel Kasher brings in his HaTekufoh Hagedolah (thank you, Dr. Balbin) that we witnessed the Aschalta with the creation of the State of Israel, היל"ת. I wonder if that stemmed from his Gerrer education, where he was taught that the IE would witness the Geulah, which he did, because he passed away one month after the creation of the State.... Chabad, however, doesn't stray from the RaMBaM in Hilchos Melochim, even if they use the Dor HaShvi'i as a sign.

טאלנער - פנ"מ וויקיליקס באמבע

יומני טאלנא
If you're having trouble seeing it on the page click on "יומני טאלנא" above.


רי"ם = Reb Yitzchok Menachem Weinberg, today's Tolner Rebbe of Bayit Vegan,

ס.ט. = Saba Tolner, his zeide, the old Tolner Rebbe, Reb Yochonon Twersky,

הב"י = is the Bais Yisrool, of course, Reb Yisroel Alter,

ל"ש = the Lev Simcha, Reb Simcha Bunim Alter,

הגרפ"מ = is the Gaon Reb Pinches Menachem, before he was Rebbe, (after which he was known as the אד"ש, and after his passing as the Pnei Menachem,) which was after 7 Tammuz, 5752, when his brother the Lev Simcha passed away.

מו' ד. ח = Moreini Reb Doniel Chaim, son of the Pnei Menachem

Reb Shaul is the Rosh Yeshiva of Sfas Emes in yerushalayim and a son of the Pnei Menachem,

Reb Aryeh was the Pnei Menachem's son who passed away some 20 years ago after being hiot by a bus. He was a son in law of Rav Menashe Klein.


Other Roshei Teivosen are Shamoshim and Gaboyim. I'll tru and answer more R"T question in the comments if you have any. No guarantees, though.