Over 10K Chassidim Attend Wedding of Gerrer Rebbe’s Grandson in Jerusalem

Edited by: TJVNews.com

Thousands of Gerrer Chassidim attended the Chasunah of a grandson of the Gerrer Rebbe on Monday evening, as was reported by Yeshiva World News.

The Chupa was held in front of the Gerrer Bais Medrash on Yirmiyahu Street in Yerushalayim, and was attended by well over 10,000 Chassidim.

The YWN report indicated that the Mesader Kedushin was the Gerrer Rebbe. Other Kibudim were given to the Sephardic Chief Rabbi, Hagaon HaRav Yitzchak Yosef, Hagoan HaRav Boruch Mordechai Ezrachi, the Rachmastrivka Rebbe, the Makava Rov, Former Ashkenaz Chief Rabbi Lau, and Rav Landau, the Chief Rabbi of Bnei Brak.

In August of 2021, it was reported that ten days after receiving the third dose of the Covid-19 vaccine in the US, from where he returned after his granddaughter’s wedding there, the Gerer Rebbe had tested positive for the coronavirus.

The Rebbe had spent several weeks in the US, where his granddaughter’s wedding was held at the Vizhnitzer Bais Medrash in Monsey.

In August, it was also reported that Rabbi Yitzchok Meir Gutman, Gur’s Talmudic Torah supervisor, informed parents that children from the age of 12 and up can daven in the main Gur bais midrash on Rosh Hashanah only with a Covid recovery certificate or a serological examination, with a special bracelet for entry. Adults will need a green badge and possibly bracelets.

Ger is a Polish Hasidic dynasty originating from the town of Góra Kalwaria, Poland, where it was founded by Yitzchak Meir Alter (1798–1866) known as the “Chiddushei HaRim,” as was reported by Wikipedia. Ger is a branch of Peshischa Hasidism, as Yitzchak Meir Alter was a leading disciple of Simcha Bunim of Peshischa (1765–1827).

Wikipedia reported that before the Holocaust, followers of Ger were estimated to number in excess of 100,000, making it the largest and most influential Hasidic group in Poland. Today, the movement is based in Jerusalem, and its membership is estimated at 11,859 families as of 2016, most of whom live in Israel, making Ger the largest Hasidic dynasty in Israel. However, there are also well-established Ger communities in the United States and in Europe. In 2019, some 300 families of followers led by Shaul Alter, split off from the dynasty led by his cousin Yaakov Aryeh Alter.

The group’s headquarters is located in Jerusalem. During and after the British Mandate, the group’s beth midrash was at the Sfas Emes Yeshiva, near Mahane Yehuda. Later on, the synagogue moved to Ralbach Street in the Geula neighborhood, and in the late 1990s, the Great Beth Midrash Gur was inaugurated on Yirmeyahu Street, near the Schneller Orphanage complex. In 2015, an extension to the building was begun, and on Rosh Hashanah 2018 (5779), the second wing of the Beth Medrash was inaugurated. In 2022, the building was finished when the two wings were joined, making it the largest synagogue in the world, with the main sanctuary seating up to 20,000, and having an area of approximately 35,000 m2 (380,000 sq ft).

(Sources: Yeshiva World News, Wikipedia)