הרב יצחק מאיר אלתר

Rebbe Yitzchak Meir Alter (5559/1799–23 Adar 5626/1866), the Chiddushei HaRim, was the founder of the Ger dynasty — a Talmudic gaon of the first rank who became the rebbe of the largest chassidut in Poland. Born in Magnuszew to a rabbinic line descended from the Maharam of Rothenburg and the Bach, he was named at the word of the Maggid of Kozhnitz, in whose court he was raised; as a child prodigy he was befriended by the Yid HaKadosh of Peshischa himself. Married at twelve into a wealthy Warsaw family, he became the iluy of Warsaw, learning under Rav Aryeh Leib Zinz and exchanging Torah with Rabbi Akiva Eiger and Rav Yaakov of Lissa; before twenty he had opened a yeshiva in his home, and he never ceased saying daily shiurim even when thousands crowded his door.

His path in chassidut ran through its deepest schools: from Kozhnitz he was drawn, at real personal cost, to Rebbe Simcha Bunim of Peshischa — truth, he said, was dearer to him than anything — and after Rebbe Simcha Bunim’s passing he became the closest of the talmidim, and the brother-in-law, of the Kotzker Rebbe, standing at his side through all the storms of Kotzk. When the Kotzker was niftar in 5619/1859, the great majority of the chassidim turned to Reb Itche Meir — and Ger was born, in the town of Gora Kalwaria. He led it only seven years, but they fixed its character forever: lomdut and chassidut fused, the Gemara at the center of avodat Hashem. Grief shadowed his greatness — he buried nearly all his children in his lifetime — and Polish politics forced even his name to change, from Rotenberg to Alter.

His Chiddushei HaRim — on the masechtot of Shas, on Choshen Mishpat, and on the Torah — are learned in yeshivot far beyond the courts of chassidut, a rare crown. After his passing the chassidim followed Rebbe Henoch of Alexander for four years, and then crowned the Chiddushei HaRim’s grandson — the Sfat Emes — from whom every Gerrer rebbe since descends.