Sfas Emes Yeshiva ( he, ישיבת שפת אמת) was an
Orthodox
Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to:
Religion
* Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pa ...
Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
yeshiva
A yeshiva (; he, ישיבה, , sitting; pl. , or ) is a traditional Jewish educational institution focused on the study of Rabbinic literature, primarily the Talmud and halacha (Jewish law), while Torah and Jewish philosophy are st ...
in
Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
, serving the
Gerrer Hasidic community until 2016. Founded in 1925 in the
Mahane Yehuda neighborhood of Jerusalem, it was one of the few Hasidic yeshivas in Israel in the early twentieth century.
[Kaploun, Uri (transl.) (1987). ''Rebbes of Ger: Sfas Emes and Imrei Emes''. New York: Mesorah Publications, Ltd. , pp. 252-253.]
History
The yeshiva was founded by the Hasidim of Grand Rabbi
Avraham Mordechai Alter
Avraham Mordechai Alter ( pl, Abraham Mordekhaj Alter, he, אברהם מרדכי אלתר; 25 December 1865 – 3 June 1948), also known as the ''Imrei Emes'' after the works he authored, was the fourth Rebbe of the Hasidic dynasty of Ger, a po ...
(''Imrei Emes''), the fourth Gerrer
Rebbe
A Rebbe ( yi, רבי, translit=rebe) or Admor ( he, אדמו״ר) is the spiritual leader in the Hasidic movement, and the personalities of its dynasties.Heilman, Samuel"The Rebbe and the Resurgence of Orthodox Judaism."''Religion and Spiritua ...
, and was named after the Rebbe's father, Rabbi
Yehuda Aryeh Leib Alter
Yehudah Aryeh Leib Alter ( he, יהודה אריה ליב אלתר, 15 April 1847 – 11 January 1905), also known by the title of his main work, the ''Sfas Emes'' (Ashkenazic Pronunciation) or ''Sefat Emet'' (Modern Hebrew), was a Hasidic rabbi ...
, (''Sfas Emes''). With the Rebbe's approval, the head staff included Rabbi
Menachem Mendel Kasher, Rabbi Yaakov Henich Sankevitz, and Rabbi Nechemiah Alter (the Rebbe's brother).
The yeshiva opened with 25 students, who were soon joined by other students from Poland. All the
Admorim in Israel sent their sons to it, as well.
The yeshiva grew year by year.
In 1926, the Rebbe circulated a letter to his Hasidim on the day of his father's
yahrzeit
Bereavement in Judaism () is a combination of ''minhag'' and ''mitzvah'' derived from the Torah and Judaism's classical rabbinic texts. The details of observance and practice vary according to each Jewish community.
Mourners
In Judaism, the p ...
, expressing his support of the yeshiva:
In the holy city of Jerusalem, a junior yeshiva has now been founded, in memory of my saintly father. It fills a need for the young students who live there, since the existing yeshivos cannot cater to all the applicants. Besides, the program of study followed by them is not in harmony with the spirit of learning prevalent in Poland.
The Rebbe visited the yeshiva for the first time on his third visit to Israel in 1927.
Over the years, the Yeshiva continued to expand and at its peak the yeshiva's student body numbered hundreds of students from Israel and abroad, under the direction of
Rosh Yeshiva
Rosh yeshiva ( he, ראש ישיבה, pl. he, ראשי ישיבה, '; Anglicized pl. ''rosh yeshivas'') is the title given to the dean of a yeshiva, a Jewish educational institution that focuses on the study of traditional religious texts, primar ...
Rabbi
Shaul Alter
Shaul Alter (born July 6, 1957) is the founder and current leader of Kehilas Pnei Menachem (an offshoot from the Ger Hasidic dynasty). He served as Rosh Yeshivah of Sfas Emes Yeshivah from 1993 until its closing in 2016.
Early life
Born in ...
, the second son of Rabbi Pinchas Menachem Alter, the seventh Gerrer Rebbe.
The yeshiva was closed in 2016 following years of acrimony between the current Gerrer Rebbe
Yaakov Aryeh Alter
Yaakov Aryeh Alter ( pl, Jakub Arie Alter, he, יעקב אריה אלתר, born 18 May 1939) is the eighth, and current, Rebbe of the Hasidic dynasty of Ger, a position he has held since 1996. He lives in Israel, and has followers there and in ...
and his first cousin Shaul over leadership of the Ger dynasty. Yaakov Aryeh made a change in the Gerrer education system to exclusively study the Talmud in a concise fashion, and not the in-depth style which had been customary until then. This harmed the stature and prominence of Shaul, the then-dean of the prestigious, flagship Gerrer institution, and eventually led to its closing.
Home for the Rebbe
In 1940, after his escape from
Nazi
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...
Europe, Rabbi Avraham Mordechai established his residence in the Sfas Emes Yeshiva. He prayed with the yeshiva students, but did not conduct a public
tish
''TISH'' was a Canadian poetry newsletter founded by student-poets at the University of British Columbia in 1961. The publication was edited by a number of Vancouver poets until 1969. The newsletter's poetics were built on those of writers associa ...
there. Within a short time of his arrival, hundreds of his Hasidim who had come to Israel before the war came to live in the neighborhood surrounding the yeshiva.
Following the
United Nations declaration of the establishment of the State of Israel on November 29, 1947, the
Arab Legion
The Arab Legion () was the police force, then regular army of the Emirate of Transjordan, a British protectorate, in the early part of the 20th century, and then of independent Jordan, with a final Arabization of its command taking place in 1 ...
lay
siege
A siege is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition, or a well-prepared assault. This derives from la, sedere, lit=to sit. Siege warfare is a form of constant, low-intensity conflict characteriz ...
to the city of Jerusalem, blocking the mountain road connecting Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, and began shelling the capital city. The Rebbe, who had been ailing for several years and was unable to walk unaided, was moved for his safety from his residence in the upper stories of the yeshiva to living quarters in the basement. Some of the rooms of the yeshiva were also turned into a shelter for the students.
The Rebbe's condition worsened during the siege, and he was moved back to his upstairs room. A few days after a cease-fire went into effect, on the first day of
Shavuot, 3 June 1948, he died. At first, some of his followers thought that they could bring him to burial on the
Mount of Olives
The Mount of Olives or Mount Olivet ( he, הַר הַזֵּיתִים, Har ha-Zeitim; ar, جبل الزيتون, Jabal az-Zaytūn; both lit. 'Mount of Olives'; in Arabic also , , 'the Mountain') is a mountain ridge east of and adjacent to Jeru ...
, with the help of the
Red Cross
The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million Volunteering, volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure re ...
. Others believed that the Rebbe should be buried on the grounds of the Yeshiva, and his body transferred to a grave on the Mount of Olives after the war was over. The Rebbe's son and successor, Rabbi
Yisrael Alter
Yisrael Alter ( pl, Izrael Alter, Hebrew: ; October 1895 – 20 February 1977), also known as the ''Beit Yisrael'', after the works he authored, was the fifth Rebbe of the Hasidic dynasty of Ger, a position he held from 1948 until 1977.
Life
...
, gave the go-ahead to bury him in the yeshiva courtyard, where he lies until today.
The ohel
![Imrei Emes and Pnei Menachem graves](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0a/Imrei_Emes_and_Pnei_Menachem_graves.jpg)
The Imrei Emes was succeeded as Rebbe by his sons, Rabbi Yisrael Alter (''Beis Yisrael''), Rabbi
Simcha Bunim Alter
Simcha Bunim Alter ( he, שמחה בונים אלתר; April 6, 1898 – August 6, 1992), also known as the ''Lev Simcha'' (), after the works he authored, was the sixth Rebbe of the Hasidic dynasty of Ger, a position he held from 1977 until his ...
(''Lev Simcha''), and Rabbi Pinchas Menachem Alter (''Pnei Menachem''), in that order. In 1996, after less than four years as Rebbe, the Pnei Menachem died suddenly. A decision was made to bury him beside his father, the Imrei Emes, in the yeshiva courtyard. The decision sparked opposition from the municipality, which claimed that the presence of a grave in the heart of the now-developed city would be a potential source of contamination for the residents, but the funeral went ahead. After the Pnei Menachem was laid to rest beside his father, a red-brick ''
ohel'' in the shape of a house was built over the two graves. Both graves are visited frequently by students in the yeshiva before and after their learning sessions.
The ''ohel'' includes both a section for men (in the same room as the graves) and a section for women behind a rear door. The ''ohel'' is equipped with sinks for the use of visitors after they visit the graves. A small garden lies to the side of the ''ohel'', and the wall of the building in the adjoining lot was redesigned to resemble the façade of the original Ger yeshiva in Poland.
The addition of a partially open roof to the ''ohel'' after the burial of the Pnei Menachem solves the problem of ''
tumas meis'' (impurity from the dead) for students who are
kohanim
Kohen ( he, , ''kōhēn'', , "priest", pl. , ''kōhănīm'', , "priests") is the Hebrew word for "priest", used in reference to the Aaronic priesthood, also called Aaronites or Aaronides. Levitical priests or ''kohanim'' are traditionally be ...
, and who therefore cannot be in proximity to a gravesite. However, during the
yahrzeits of the two Rebbes, thousands of people crowd into the ''ohel'', effectively blocking the opening and spreading ''tumas meis'' from the graves into the yeshiva building. The administration now posts a sign warning kohanim to stay out of the yeshiva building on the day of a yahrzeit.
[Hall, Y. ''Kohanim in Today's World''. ''Hamodia'' Magazine, 10 May 2006, p. 13.]
Notes
{{coord, 31.7862, N, 35.2130, E, source:wikidata, display=title
Hasidic Judaism in Jerusalem
Hasidic yeshivas
Orthodox yeshivas in Jerusalem
Educational institutions established in 1925
1925 establishments in Mandatory Palestine
Polish-Jewish culture in Israel