Yehudah Aryeh Leib Alter

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Yehudah Aryeh Leib Alter

Yehudah Aryeh Leib Alter (1847–1905), also known by the title of his main work, the Sfas Emes, was a Hasidic

Hasidic Judaism

Hasidic Judaism is a type of Orthodox Judaism or Haredi Judaism Orthodox Judaism religious movement. Some refer to Hasidic Judaism as Hasidism, and the adjective chasidic / hasidic applies....
rabbi

Rabbi

Rabbi , in Judaism, means a religious ?teacher?, or more literally, ?my great one?, when addressing any master. The word rabbi derives from the Hebrew root word , rav, which in biblical Hebrew means ?great?, used in many senses, including the sense of a ?master? and apprentice, whence someone who is a distinguished ?teacher?....
who succeeded his grandfather, Rabbi Yitzchak Meir Alter

Yitzchak Meir Alter

Yitzchak Meir Alter , is considered to be the first Rebbe of the Ger Hasidic Judaism dynasty, which he founded in the town of G?ra Kalwaria , Poland....
, as the av beis din (head of the rabbinical court) and Rav of Góra Kalwaria

Góra Kalwaria

G?ra Kalwaria [] is a town on the Vistula River in the Mazovian Voivodship, Poland, about 25 km southeast of Warsaw. It has a population of about 11,000 ....
, Poland (known in Yiddish

Yiddish language

Yiddish is a non-territorial High German languages of Jewish origin, spoken throughout the world. Unlike other such languages, Yiddish is written with the Hebrew alphabet as opposed to a Latin alphabet....
as the town of Ger), and succeeded the Rebbe, Reb Heynekh of Alexander, as Rebbe

Rebbe

Rebbe which means master, teacher, or mentor is a Yiddish word derived from the identical Hebrew language word Rabbi. It mostly refers to the leader of a Hasidic Judaism Jewish movement....
of the Gerrer Hasidim

Ger (Hasidic dynasty)

Ger, or Gur is a Hasidic Judaism dynasty originating from Ger, the Yiddish language name of G?ra Kalwaria, a small town in Poland.Prior to the Holocaust, Ger was the largest and most important Hasidic group in Poland....
.

as born in 1847 and named Yehudah Leib; he was known to family and friends as Leybl.

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Yehudah Aryeh Leib Alter (1847–1905), also known by the title of his main work, the Sfas Emes, was a Hasidic

Hasidic Judaism

Rabbi

Yitzchak Meir Alter

Góra Kalwaria

G?ra Kalwaria [] is a town on the Vistula River in the Mazovian Voivodship, Poland, about 25 km southeast of Warsaw. It has a population of about 11,000 ....
, Poland (known in Yiddish

Yiddish language

Rebbe

Ger (Hasidic dynasty)

Early years

He was born in 1847 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 died before that. Orphaned of both parents, he was brought up by his grandparents, Rabbi Yitzchak Meir Alter (known as the Chiddushei Harim) and his wife. When he was about ten years old, his grandfather took him to visit the Kotzker Rebbe

Menachem Mendel of Kotzk

Rabbi Menachem Mendel Morgensztern of Kock, better known as the Kotzker Rebbe was a Hasidic Judaism leader. Born to a non-Hasidic family in Goraj, Lublin Voivodeship near Lublin, Poland, he became attracted to Hasidim in his youth....
, an event which left a lifelong impression on him.

He married Yocheved Rivka, daughter of Reb Yidl (Yehuda) 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

When his grandfather, Rabbi Yitzchak Meir, died in 1866, many of the Hasidim sought to bestow the mantle of leadership upon eighteen-year-old Yehudah Aryeh Leib. He refused that position, and leadership of the Hasidim went to Rabbi Chanokh Heynekh HaKohen Levin

Chanokh Heynekh HaKohen Levin

Chanokh Heynekh HaKohen Levin of Aleksandr?w L?dzki served as the rebbe of a community of thousands of Hasidic Judaism during the "interregnum" between the Yitschok Myer Alter of Ger and the Yehudah Aryeh Leib Alter....
of Aleksander

Aleksandrów Lódzki

Aleksandr?w L?dzki [] is a town in L?dzkie Voivodship and belongs to L?dz agglomeration. According to data gathered on 31 December 2004, the town had a population of 20 342....
. After the death of the latter in 1870, the Hasidim succeeded in gaining Yehudah Aryeh Leib's assent to become their Rebbe.

Death and burial

During the Russo-Japanese War

Russo-Japanese War

The Russo-Japanese War or the Manchurian Campaign in some English sources, was a conflict that grew out of the rival imperialism ambitions of the Russian Empire and the Empire of Japan over Manchuria and Korea....
many of his young followers were drafted into the Russian Army and sent to the battlefields in Manchuria

Manchuria

Manchuria is a historical name given to a vast geographic region in northeast Asia. Depending on the definition of its extent, Manchuria either falls entirely within People's Republic of China, or is divided between China and Russia....
. The Rebbe 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 (5 Shevat

Shevat

Shevat is the fifth month of the civil year and the eleventh month of the ecclesiastical year on the Hebrew calendar. It is a winter month of 30 days....
5665).

"When news of the Admor's petirah (funeral) 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."

Succession

He was succeeded as Gerrer Rebbe by his son, Rabbi Avraham Mordechai Alter

Avraham Mordechai Alter

Avraham Mordechai Alter, , also known as the Imrei Emes after the works he authored, was the third Rebbe of the Hasidic Judaism dynasty of Ger , a position he held from 1905 until his death in 1948....
.

Lasting influence

Rabbi Yehudah Aryeh Leib was one of the greatest Torah scholars of his generation, teaching students such as Rabbi Nachman Shlomo Greenspan

Nachman Shlomo Greenspan

Rabbi Nachman Shlomo Greenspan was an outstanding Talmudic scholar, renowned rosh yeshiva of Etz Chaim Yeshiva in London and a brilliant and erudite author, penning a number of Torah works....
and many others. His output was prodigious, and his works (all entitled Sfas Emes) deal with the legalistic Talmud

Talmud

The Talmud is a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Halakha, Jewish ethics, customs, and history. It is a central text of mainstream Judaism....
, the ethics of Midrash

Midrash

Midrash is a Hebrew language term referring to the not exact, but comparative method of exegesis of Biblical texts, which is one of four methods cumulatively called Pardes ....
, and mysticism of the Zohar

Zohar

The Zohar is widely considered the most important work of Kabbalah, or Jewish mysticism. It is a mystical commentary on the Torah , written in medieval Aramaic language....
.

His Torah homilies as delivered to his Hasidim, and arranged according to the weekly parashah

Parashah

|}A parashah formally means a section of a biblical book in the masoretic text of the Tanakh . In common usage today the word often refers to the Weekly Torah portion ....
and the festivals, were the first to be published posthumously under the name Sfas Emes. The title was taken from the closing words of the final piece he wrote (Sfas Emes, Vayechi 5665). His chiddushim (original Torah thoughts) on many Talmud

Talmud

The Talmud is a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Halakha, Jewish ethics, customs, and history. It is a central text of mainstream Judaism....
ic tractates, and on Yoreh De'ah

Yoreh De'ah

Yoreh De'ah is a section of Rabbi Jacob ben Asher's compilation of halakha , Arba'ah Turim. This section treats all aspects of Jewish law not pertinent to the Hebrew calendar, finance, torts, marriage, divorce, or sexual conduct....
, have been published under the same name.

The Sochatchover Rebbe, Rabbi Avrohom Bornsztain

Avrohom Bornsztain

Rabbi Avrohom Bornsztain , also spelled Avraham Borenstein or Bernstein, was a leading posek in late-nineteenth-century Europe and founder of the Sochatchov ....
(known as the Avnei Nezer), a leading Torah scholar and posek

Posek

Posek is the term in Halakha for "decider"?a legal scholar who decides the Halakha in cases of law where previous authorities are inconclusive....
in his own right, is said to have maintained two bookcases — one for Rishonim

Rishonim

"Rishon" redirects here. For the preon model in particle physics, see Harari Rishon Model. For the Israeli town, see Rishon LeZion.Rishonim were the leading Rabbis and Posek who lived approximately during the 11th to 15th centuries, in the era before the writing of the Shulkhan Arukh and following the Geonim....
(earlier commentators) and another for Acharonim

Acharonim

Acharonim is a term used in Halakha and history, to signify the leading rabbis and Posek living from roughly the 16th century to the present....
(later commentators). The volumes of the Sfas Emes, written in the late 1800s, were to be found in his bookcase containing the Rishonim. To study some portions of the Talmud without the Sfas Emes is unthinkable to the modern-day scholar. The Rebbe of Tzaltz wrote a super-commentary to the Sfas Emes entitled the Sfas Bitz.

His sayings

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

Arthur Green, The Language of Truth: The Torah Commentary of Sefat Emet (JPS 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, Krakow 2000, pp. 151-171.

Rebbes of Ger

Yitzchak Meir Alter
Yitzchak Meir Alter

Yitzchak Meir Alter , is considered to be the first Rebbe of the Ger Hasidic Judaism dynasty, which he founded in the town of G?ra Kalwaria , Poland....
(1798-1866)
Yehudah Aryeh Leib Alter
Yehudah Aryeh Leib Alter

Yehudah Aryeh Leib Alter , also known by the title of his main work, the Sfas Emes, was a Hasidic Judaism rabbi who succeeded his grandfather, Rabbi Yitzchak Meir Alter, as the av beis din and Rav of G?ra Kalwaria, Poland , and succeeded the Rebbe, Reb Heynekh of Alexander, as Rebbe of the Ger ....
(1847-1905)
Avraham Mordechai Alter
Avraham Mordechai Alter

Avraham Mordechai Alter, , also known as the Imrei Emes after the works he authored, was the third Rebbe of the Hasidic Judaism dynasty of Ger , a position he held from 1905 until his death in 1948....
(1866-1948)
Yisrael Alter
Yisrael Alter

Yisrael Alter, , also known as the Beis Yisroel after the works he authored, was the fourth Rebbe of the Hasidic Judaism dynasty of Ger , a position he held from 1948 until 1977....
(1895-1977)
Simchah Bunim Alter
Simchah Bunim Alter

Simcha Bunim Alter , also known as the Lev Simcha after the works he authored, was the fifth Rebbe of the Hasidic Judaism dynasty of Ger , a position he held from 1977 until 1992....
(1898-1992)
Pinchas Menachem Alter
Pinchas Menachem Alter

Pinchas Menachem Alter, , also known as the Pnei Menachem after the works he authored, was the sixth Rebbe of the Hasidic Judaism dynasty of Ger , a position he held from 1992 until his untimely death in 1996....
(1926-1996)
Yaakov Aryeh Alter
Yaakov Aryeh Alter

Yaakov Aryeh Alter, , is the seventh and current Rebbe of the Hasidic Judaism dynasty of Ger , a position he has held since 1996. He lives in Israel and has followers in Europe and the United States....
(b. 1939)

External links

Translations of the Sefat Emet as Pdf's
A Sfas Emes Companion in English.