A moment of shared reflection

There were many heightened moments at the wedding of the grandchild of the Gerrer Rebbe — a weeklong historical celebration and the first time a rebbe of Gur celebrated a family wedding in America. The chasunah itself, held in Monsey, drew some of America’s leading rebbes and rabbanim, and chassidim couldn’t help but notice a special warmth between the Rebbe and Lakewood Rosh Yeshivah Rav Malkiel Kotler.

It’s a connection that dates back to a different time, when the postwar Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah in Eretz Yisrael gave the chareidi community back it’s pride and its voice. It was a leadership group comprised of geonim and tzaddikim, chaired by the Beis Yisrael of Gur, uncle of the current Rebbe. From faraway America came Rav Aharon Kotler, helping the cause with passion and spirit, encouraging the olam haTorah to join the holy cause.

Last week, the successors of those two giants enjoyed a moment of shared reflection.

(Originally featured in Mishpacha, Issue 875)