The Lev Simcha—Rabbi Simcha Bunim Alter רבי שמחה בונם אלתר — לב שמחה
the fifth rebbe of Ger; under him the court spread beyond two cities
The son of the Imrei Emes and the younger brother of the Beis Yisroel; he took the court in 1977, at seventy-nine.
Resettlement. The chief thing remembered of his years: under him the Gerrer chasidim ceased to be inhabitants of two cities. He called families to move to Ashdod, Hatzor, Arad, Kiryat Gat—places with no chasidic community at all—and sent teachers and money for the first years along with them. This was not preaching but the work of resettlement, and it came off.
Degel HaTorah. In 1988 he supported the split in Agudath Israel out of which came a separate party of the Lithuanian community. That decision was much discussed in the chasidic world; we say that it was, and do not judge it.
He died on 7 Tammuz 1992. His book is Lev Simcha.
On the timeline
Places
Related
Sources
Acharonim and later rabbinic literature
- Lev Simcha—his teachings — the book he is named by
Documents of the period
- Accounts of the Gerrer resettlement, 1977–1992 — the new communities in Ashdod, Hatzor and Arad
Basis: documents and evidence.