Simcha Bunim Alter
| Simcha Bunim Alter | |
|---|---|
| Gerrer Rebbe | |
 | |
| Term | March 1977 – July 7, 1992 |
| Full name | Simcha Bunem Alter |
| Main work | Lev Simcha |
| Born |
April 6, 1898 Góra Kalwaria |
| Died |
July 7, 1992 (aged 94) Jerusalem |
| Buried | Mount of Olives, July 7, 1992 |
| Predecessor | Yisrael Alter |
| Successor | Pinchas Menachem Alter |
| Father | Avraham Mordechai Alter |
| Mother | Chaya Ruda Yehudis Czarna |
| Wife | Yuta Hena Alter |
| Children |
Chaya Ruda Yehudis Alter Rivka Feyga Alter Yaakov Aryeh Alter |
Simcha Bunim Alter (Hebrew: שמחה בונים אלתר; April 6, 1898 – August 6, 1992), also known as the Lev Simcha (Hebrew: לב שמחה) after the works he authored, was the sixth Rebbe of the Hasidic dynasty of Ger, a position he held from 1977 until 1992.
Being a Palestinian citizen, Alter and his family were able to enter Mandate Palestine during 1940 to escape Nazi persecution in Poland.[1] Prior to becoming Rebbe of Ger, Alter was a businessman dealing in real estate.
During his leadership, Ger Hasidim grew greatly in the State of Israel. He continued the family tradition of vigorous leadership of the Agudat Israel party whose representatives in the Israeli Knesset (parliament) represent the interests of Haredi Judaism in the Jewish state. It was during his stewardship of the party that the non-Hasidic Degel HaTorah party (that was within the United Torah Judaism party) split when Rabbi Elazar Shach broke with Agudat Israel and its Hasidic leadership, led mainly by the Rebbe of Ger. Rabbi Shach then aligned with Rabbi Ovadia Yosef and had initially helped to launch the Sephardi Shas political party.
In 1980, he instituted Yerushalmi Yomi, the daily learning of a page of the Jerusalem Talmud, similar to the renowned Daf Yomi for the Babylonian Talmud.[2]
He died of unknown causes on July 7, 1992 (7th of Tammuz 5752) and was interred in the cave of the Gerrer Rebbes in the Mount of Olives cemetery.
Rebbes of Ger
- Yitzchak Meir Alter (1799–1866)
- Chanokh Heynekh HaKohen Levin (1798–1870)
- Yehudah Aryeh Leib Alter (1847–1905)
- Avraham Mordechai Alter (1866–1948)
- Yisrael Alter (1895–1977)
- Simcha Bunim Alter (1898–1992)
- Pinchas Menachem Alter (1926–1996)
- Yaakov Aryeh Alter (b. 1939)
References
- ↑ Obituary: Rabbi Simha Bunem Alter, The Independent, (July 11, 1992).
- ↑ Holder, Meir (1986). History of the Jewish People: From Yavneh to Pumbedisa. Mesorah Publications Ltd. p. 315. ISBN 9780899064994.
| Jewish titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Yisrael Alter |
Gerrer Rebbe 1977–1992 |
Succeeded by Pinchas Menachem Alter |