Chassidut Gur

B"H

It is almost impossible to explain chassidut Gur (Ger in Yiddish) without mentioning the Kotzker Rebbe Menachem Mendel Morgensztern. Gur is based on Kotzk and maybe I should have explained Kotzk first. Nevertheless, I am going to describe chassidut Gur and additionally some Kotzker ideas.

Gur is originally a Polish chassidic group. The town of Gora Kalwaria is located 25 km southeast of Warsaw. In Yiddish the town is known as Ger.In the early nineteen - hundreds, the actual center of Polish chassidut was located in Kotzk, near Warsaw. There lived the brilliant Torah scholar, the Kotzker Rebbe.

Rabbi Yitzchak Meir Alter (1798 - 1866) was next to Rabbi Mordechai Leiner (the later Ishbitzer Rebbe) the most famous student of the Rebbe of Kotzk. Also was Rabbi Alter the brother - in - law of Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Kotzk.

After his death in 1859, the students of the Kotzker Rebbe asked Rabbi Alter to become their new spiritual leader. This way, chassidut Gur came into existence. The first Rebbe Yitzchak Meir Alter had changed his former family name from Rotenberg into Alter.

The secret of success of the House of Kotzk was connecting Torah knowledge with chassidut. For Kotzk as well as for Gur, Torah and Talmud study are one of the most important things and not particularly mystisim. The Torah is our life and our soul. It is the source of all human existence and through its study we are perfecting ourselves. Praying on time is also a must.

And what exactly makes Gur a chassidut ? The rebbe, of course. Each chassidic group has its rebbe, hence their spiritual leader. The Alter family are the heads of Gur. In 1996, the present Rebbe Yaakov Aryeh Alter took over from his father and he is the seventh rebbe. The first rebbes led a poor lifestyle but today, Gur is an empire. Probably worth 200 - 250 Mio Dollar. The rebbe invests lots of money in social institutions such as schools, hospitals, kindergardens etc.

For the chassidim the rebbe is more than a spiritual leader. He is the perfect Zaddik (righteous) and through him prayers rise directly to G-d. For this reason, all followers try to stick to the rebbe as close as possible (Devekut). Only seeing the rebbe is already a great sechut.

As a Polish chassidic group, Gur wears different clothes than, for instance, Vishnitz or Toldot Aharon etc. They always wear black. Even on Shabbat. A round looking heat, black longs coats and black pants squeezed into the socks. This custom goes back to the time of the shtetl where they treid to avoid making their pants dirty due to bad weather. Other groups call them therefore cossacks.

One easily recognizes Gur. On Shabbat they waer their special fur hat called Spodik. The women are not so easy to recognize, as they dress like any haredi woman but with sligthly more elegancy.

The rebbe is the center of the chassidut. Gur is the biggest group in Israel. According to Ynet, 10,000 families live in Israel. Besides their economic influence, Gur also has great political power. The head of the Knesset party Yahadut HaTorah is Yaakov Litzmann, a Gerer chassid.

Chassidut Gur does accept converts to Judaism. But only up to a certain level, as you can surely imagine. I know a German convert and a German - American couple who joined the group.

What I like about Gur is their radical fight against Christian missionaries. They have a perfect network and as soon as a missionary appears, I do not look for the police but rather for a Gerer chassid.

By the way, Gur is very friendly with Chabad and both groups are very zionistic. Many Gerer chassidim work.

I only had positive experiences with Gur; straight forward, very modest and friendly with a great sense of humor. One of their customs is to have a Tisch with the rebbe on Mozzaei Shabbat. But men only! However, I once saw the rebbe in the Ge'ulah neighbourhood.

Chassidut Gur lost 200,000 followers in the Holocaust.