Maran ha-Ga’on ha-Tzadik Rabbi Abraham Mordecai Alter

(CHASIDISM)

Merkaz Agudath Israel of Eretz Israel

Tel Aviv

June 17th, 1948

Special issue on the death of Grand Rabbi of Ger

Rabbi Abraham Mordecai Alter (1866-1948) was the spiritual leader of the Agudath Israel movement and Rebbe of an estimated 100,00 chasidim in pre-war Poland. He succeeded his father R. Judah Aryeh Leib (author of Sefath Emeth) as Rebbe in 1905. Due to the Jordanian occupation of the Mount of Olives, it was impossible to bury the Rebbe there, and he was temporarily (sic!) interred in the courtyard of his Yeshivah Sefath Emeth in Jerusalem. Despite the fact Jerusalem was under siege by the Arab Legion, thousands paid their final respects to the Rebbe. He was eulogized by Chief Rabbi Herzog and the authority of the Edah Haredith, Rabbi Duschinsky. The newspaper here states that due to difficulty communicating with Jerusalem, further details concerning the final hours of the Rebbe and his funeral are presently unknown