Shaul Alter

Rabbi Shaul Alter
Born	July 6, 1957 Jerusalem
Occupation	Rosh Yeshivah
Known for	In-depth and broad knowledge of Torah
Parent(s)	Pinchas Menachem Alter (father)

Rabbi Shaul Alter (born July 6, 1957) is the current leader of (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 Jerusalem to Tziporah, a daughter of Rebbi Avraham Mordechai Alter (son of Rabbi Moshe Betzalel Alter brother of Rebbe Avraham Mordechai Alter of Ger) and to Rabbi Pinchas Menachem Alter (Rosh Yeshivah of Sfas Emes Yeshivah and later to date Rebbe of the Ger Hasidic Dynasty.) He is named after the grandfather of his mother Rabbi Shaul Moshe Zilberman. He studied in Imrei Emes Yeshivah in Bnei Brak, and afterward continued to learn under his father's guidance in Sfas Emes Yeshivah where he was known as an outstanding student who finished the entire Talmud.^[1]

In 1977 he married Naomi, daughter of Chaim Dov Rubinstein from the city of Haifa. After his marriage he lived in Haifa, where he was appointed as Maggid Shiur of Ohr Simcha Yeshivah in Haifa. He was also given the opportunity to give in-depth shiurim in the Beis Yisroel Yeshivah of Ashdod.

After the death of his uncle, Rebbe Simcha Bunim Alter of Ger, in 1992, his father, who was then appointed as Rebbe of the Ger Dynasty, requested he should move back to his birthplace, Jerusalem.

In July 1993 he was given the prestigious position of Rosh Yeshivah of Sfas Emes Yeshivah, per his father's request. He gave in-depth shiurim daily and weekly in the Yeshivah.

When the change in the way of learning in the Yeshivas of Ger was switched from Iyun to Bekious, the Shiurim were halted. In 2016 the Yeshiva was closed through orders from the then-current Rabbi of Ger.^[2]

His disciples published a series of books based on his in-depth Shiurim, known as Yaalkut Shiurim (in Hebrew ילקוט שיעורים).

Split from the Ger dynasty[]

After the passing of his father Rabbi Pinchas Menachem Alter (the "Pnei Menachem"), in March 1996, his father's nephew, Rabbi Yaakov Aryeh Alter, was crowned as Rebbe of the Dynasty.

Following an "ostracism" signed by the leaders of the dynasty in Israel in June 2019 against the current Head of the Board of Camp Ger in the United States^[3] (in a case known as the Camp Ger dispute), in which the majority (including some of the leaders) of the community in the United States didn't partake,^[4] and even disobeyed it, he wrote a letter of criticism against the establishment, and the establishment of the Ger dynasty in Israel didn't take it lightly,^[5] and his admirers were continuously harassed and shamed by the establishment.

In the middle of the Holiday of Sukkos (October 2019),^[6] following a failed attempt at reconciliation between him and the Rebbe, his men announced the existence of a separate congregation of prayers on Simchas Torah. In response, the establishment of the dynasty of Ger announced that they would ban students from their institutions whose fathers attended the separate prayers.

During the holiday,^[7] hundreds of followers participated in separate prayers and gatherings. Students whose fathers participated in the separate prayers were removed from the Hasidic establishment's institutions.^[8] Immediately afterwards, Alter's men announced a split and the establishment of a separate community and institutions, including "Yeshivas Pnei Menachem".

The community in the United States, the source of the conflict,^[9] was, in 2020, saved from being removed from the institutions; the two factions of the dynasty uniting into one community, studying in the same yeshivot and praying in the same synagogues.

In 2021, Alter made a crowdfunding campaign to build his institutions and raised over $16 Million in 48 hours. ^[10]

References[]