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Chasidim of Ger (Gora Kalwaria)
[Yiddish, Gerer chasidim; chasidim Ger] - One
of the largest and most influential Chasidic groups in
Poland, founded
by Yitzchak Meir Rothenberg Alter (1789-1866), who was known
as Rebe
Itchie Majer. Even as a child, he was renowned for his
quickness of mind
and originality of thought.
Alter studied under Israel ben Shabtay Hepstein of
Kozienice, Symcha
Bunem of Przysucha, and then with Menachem Mendel
Morgenshtern of Kock.
He married Morgenstern's sister, and after Morgenstern's
death in 1859,
most of his students went to study with Itchie Majer.
Alter's work,
published posthumously, Chidushey RIM (Hebrew, The New
Interpretations
of R[abbi] I[tzhak] M[eir], 1875) became one of the basic
works on
Jewish ritual studied in yeshivas in Poland. Alter believed
a Jew's most
important duty was to study the Torah, stressing the joy
that Talmudic
studies bring. He also opposed the belief in the
miracle-working powers
of the tzaddikim, and was active in politics. He was, for
example,
involved in the struggle to lift the "Cantonist decrees"
[regarding the
conscription of Jewish boys into the army - Ed.].
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In 1843, he became an honorary member of the
Warsaw rabbinate, which strengthened Chasidic influence.
Alter was
succeeded first by his friend, Rabbi Henoch Henich Kohen
Levin of
Aleksandrow, and beginning in 1870, by his grandson, Yehuda
Arie Leyb
Alter (1847-1905). During the period when he was active, the
Chasidic
group from Gora Kalwaria became one of the most influential
Chasidic
groups in the Kingdom of Poland. Yehuda Arie gained not only
the trust
of the rabbis, but also of the Warsaw synagogue board,
despite the fact
that some of its members supported assimilation. He spoke
out strongly
against Zionism. His writings were collected in Sefat Emet
(Hebrew, The
Language of Truth, 1905-1908).
Yehuda Arie was succeeded by his oldest son, Abraham
Mordechai Alter
(1864-1948), under whose leadership the Chasidim of Gora
Kalwaria
became a well-organized group and gained widespread
influence, which
contributed to a rebirth of Orthodoxy. He supported the
development of
religious schools, including girls' schools, and encouraged
the study of
Polish. He was held in high esteem among Europe's Orthodox
Jewry, and
was one of the founders of the Agudas Isroel party. At
first, this group
was decidedly against Zionism, but during the 1930's, it
advocated
Jewish settlement in Palestine. He visited Israel many
times. In 1940,
he succeeded in leaving Poland and settled in Jerusalem,
where he
rebuilt the Chasidic institutions from G�ra Kalwaria.
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After his death, Abraham Mordechai Alter's sons
succeeded him: Israel Alter (1895-1972), Symcha Bunem
(1888-1992) and
Pinchas Menachem (b. 1923). The Chasidic dynasty from Gora
Kalwaria
still has many followers in Israel and the United States.
(H.W./CM)
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