Yehudah Aryeh Leib Alter
Yehudah Aryeh Leib Alter, also known by the title of his main work, the Sfas Emes or Sefat Emet , was a Hasidic rabbi who succeeded his grandfather, Rabbi Yitzchak Meir Alter, as the Av beis din'' and Rav of Góra Kalwaria, Poland, and succeeded Rabbi Chanokh Heynekh HaKohen Levin of Aleksander as Rebbe of the Gerrer Hasidim.
Biography
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 Mrs. Esther Alter died before that in 1849. Orphaned of both parents, he was brought up by his grandparents, Rabbi Yitzchak Meir Alter and his wife. When he was about ten years old, his grandfather took him to visit the Kotzker Rebbe, which left a lifelong impression on him.In 1862 he married Yocheved Rivka, daughter of Yehuda Leib Kaminer, descendant of the Magen Abraham. 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, Yitzchak Meir, died in 1866, many of the Gerrer Hasidim sought to bestow the mantle of leadership upon eighteen-year-old Yehudah Aryeh Leib. He refused that position, and leadership went to Rabbi Chanokh Heynekh HaKohen Levin of Aleksandrów Łódzki. However, after the death of the latter in 1870, the Hasidim succeeded in gaining Alter's assent to become their Rebbe. Ten children were born to Alter, of whom four sons and two daughters stayed alive after his death. The eldest among them was Rabbi Avraham Mordechai, who would later succeed him as leader.Death and burial
On September 2, 1901, his wife, Yocheved Rivka, died. A year later, a fire consumed the Chassidic buildings in Góra Kalwaria, including Alter's home and hisBeth midrash. Following this, Alter married his second wife, Reizel, the daughter of Rabbi Baruch Halberstam of Gorlice.During the Russo-Japanese War, many of his young followers were drafted into the Russian Army and sent to the battlefields in Manchuria. Alter 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.
Succession
Alter was succeeded as Gerrer Rebbe by his son, Rabbi Avraham Mordechai Alter. Most of Gerrer hasidim followed Avraham Mordechai, but some chasidim followed the brother-in-law of Alter - Rabbi Pinchas Menachem Justman of Piltz.Lasting influence
Alter was one of the greatest Torah scholars of his generation, teaching students such as Rabbi Nachman Shlomo Greenspan and many others. His output was prodigious, and his works deal with the Talmud, the ethics of the Midrash, and mysticism of the Zohar.His Torah homilies as delivered to his hasidim, and arranged according to the weekly parashah 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. His chiddushim on many Talmudic tractates, and on Yoreh De'ah, have been published under the same name.
The Sochatchover Rebbe, Rabbi Avrohom Bornsztain, a leading Torah scholar and posek in his own right, is said to have maintained two bookcases — one for Rishonim and another for Acharonim. 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 Sfas Emes Yeshiva in Jerusalem is named after him and includes his teachings in the curriculum.