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

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.

דער רבי דער בית ישראל האט פארשטאנען צו אהבת ישראל

Photo Source

Hirshel:

the Rebbe di Beis Yisroel is - in di velt - portrayed as more right wing than his father the Imrei Emes. Itche Meir Levin, the brother in law, was the father's shaliach, and the Beis Yisroel basically did not interfere. That's how they see it. The kanoyim who have a little bit of Yiras Shomayim blame Itche Meir and say that the BY had no choice but to go along with what he did, because he respected the father's choice. As if he was an Hungarian Rebbe... The "Eidah" people thought he is one of theirs. Zalminu Wienberg, the holy Tolner Rebbe's brother, writes a Mussar vort his brother heard the the Beis Yisroel give, based on Rav Kook as a role model. I assume it's not printed anywhere. Very un PC. Even for Ger.

Sunday Afternoon Pictures

Rabbi Moshe Blau, seated 2nd from left. Photo credit: Estate Archives of Rabbi Joseph J. Sporn Z"L.

the Chortkover Rebbe, Reb Yisroel's Kapote

?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...

"דעתם של אדמו"רי פולין על לימוד "עברית

ראש גולת אריאל Volume 2 page 321

 

Did he take credit for the Hey Shvat "Tish"??

Credit: Gruntig.net

This is NOT an attack on Reb Mike Tress, z"l.

 Maybe it's me and my bias, but it sounded like the juxtaposition of the two terms, Agudas Yisroel and Hey Shvat Tish were supposed to tell us that they were somehow related. That the reason survivors could sit down to a Hey Shvat gathering was because they were members of Agudas Yisroel. Nothing to do with the fact that were Gerrer Chassidim... I realize that he was speaking to an Agudah assembly and was trying to speak of the Agudah's activities among survivors, but still, it's a bit of a stretch. Then again, it could be my inherent bias that drives me. It often was and is the case.

Last of the (Ger) Wikis

This was too hot even for Hydepark or the blogs, so they took it out. But we bring it to you, just to give all the other lines some perspective. "Vos heist" perspective? Well, There are lots of recipients of his sharp mind and tongue over the course of the 492+ pages. Lubavitch, The Avi Ezri, Karlin, Ozherov (why him?) Belz, his nephew the current Rebbe, and the list goes on. Supposed friends and adversaries. We all saw what WE liked and laughed, and maybe didn't like some other line that was about people we like and care for. You might say that the only ones who didn't GET it were Satmar and some of its satellite groups! Isn't that a doozy. Here the Satmorim are screaming bloody moideh all those years that the Gerrer are apikorsim and they're totally ignored! They get love and respect in return, as if Itche Meir wasn't dragged through the mud all those years. SO if you liked when he attacked Chabad or The Avi Ezri then you need to like all the rest, including the Hasmottis. And if you believed or liked nothing - !אשריך


I'm in the picture, I was with RMK at the PM's house that day, and you can see me, albeit only the "shpitz shtrahmel..." I almost was at the AE's house too, We tried to see him, but he wasn't feeling well that day. We also visited the Erlauer, Rav Wosner and some others.