Yisrael Alter

Who was Yisrael Alter?

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

He escaped from Poland during the Holocaust and settled in Palestine during 1940. In 1945 he learnt that the Nazi regime had murdered his wife, daughter, son and grandchildren. He remarried but had no children.

Following the death of his father, Rabbi Avraham Mordechai Alter, the third Rebbe of Ger, in 1948, he became a forceful leader of his growing followers in the Ger Hasidic movement, as well as became very active in the political life of the nascent State of Israel. He would go around at night by himself to the various yeshivas, even the non-Hasidic ones, and check on the students. He would also have one of his agents call an especially good student to talk to him, thereby gaining many new and outstanding followers.

Married Perl Weidenfeld daughter of Reb Dovid

Rabbi Yisrael also known as the Sharfer Rebbe, left a great impression on people from all walks of life who came in contact with him, and was highly respected by all Hasidic circles. His idea was to elevate every person to somehow become one level higher than his present state. There are countless stories from individuals who met the Rebbe, relating how he had a tremendous spiritual impact on them and how this strong impression will never leave them. What makes this even more impressive is that many of these encounters with the Rebbe were for a very short period of time.