Avraham Mordechai Alter (, , ; 25 December 1865 – 13 June 1948), was also known as the Imrei Emes after the works he authored. He was fourth Rebbe of the Hasidic dynasty of Ger. The Ger Rebbe, from 1905 until his death in 1948. A participant in the foundation of the Agudas Israel in Poland. Rebbe Alter was influential in establishing a network of Jewish schools. He led over two-hundred-thousand Hasidim (followers).

Personal life

thumb|Gerrer Rebbe at the [[Hurva Synagogue in Jerusalem, with the horrific news of the murder of millions of Jews from Poland and Europe, November 1942. Next to him is his son Pinchas Menachem]]

Rebbe Alter married his first wife, Chaya Ruda Czarna. Rebbe Alter and his first wife had eight children. She was daughter of Noah Czarny, a prominent Gerrer Hasid in Biala. Rabbi Meir Alter, was a Torah scholar and businessman, the eldest son. The second son was Rabbi Yitzchak Alter. The second son, died in 1934 in Poland. Rabbi Meir, the eldest, was murdered in Treblinka, along with all of his offspring and their children, all perished. This was during the Holocaust.

In 1922, Rebbe Alter's wife Chaya Ruda died. Feyge Mintshe Biderman was his next wife, who also was his niece. By 1926 the youngest child, Pinchas Menachem Alter, was born.

In 1924, Rebbe Alter accompanied the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah delegation which visited Palestine. It included Rabbi Hirsh Heynekh Lewin, who was his brother in-law, Yitzhak-Meir Levin who also was his son-in-law, along with the Sokolover Rebbe Yitzchak Zelig Morgenstern, and several other distinguished rabbis and rebbes. They visited Jerusalem, Safed, Hebron, Tiberias and Tel Aviv. This was a more than six week visit.

World War II

During World War II, Rebbe Alter was targeted by the Nazi authorities in occupied Poland. In 1940, he managed to escape Nazi-occupied Poland. Rebbe Alter made it to Palestine with several of his sons. He rebuilt the Ger Hasidic dynasty in Palestine. This became the Sfas Emes Yeshiva, and he remained from 1940 until his death in 1948.

After Alter's death, the dynasty continued with his three remaining sons, who became the consecutive next three heads of the Gerrer Hasidim worldwide: Rabbi Yisrael Alter (fifth rebbe of Ger); Rabbi Simchah Bunim Alter (sixth rebbe of Ger); and Rabbi Pinchas Menachem Alter (seventh rebbe of Ger). In 1996, Rabbi Pinchas Menachem Alter was buried next to his father in the courtyard and a red-brick ohel was placed over both graves, which are visited regularly by students in the adjoining yeshiva. as well as the nearby junction of highway 40 and highway 3.

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