Simcha Bunim Alter also known as the Lev Simcha after the works he authored, was the fifth Rebbe

Rebbe

Rebbe , which means master, teacher, or mentor, is a Yiddish word derived from the Hebrew word Rabbi. It often refers to the leader of a Hasidic Jewish movement...

 of the Hasidic

Hasidic Judaism

Hasidic Judaism or Hasidism, from the Hebrew —Ḥasidut in Sephardi, Chasidus in Ashkenazi, meaning "piety" , is a branch of Orthodox Judaism that promotes spirituality and joy through the popularisation and internalisation of Jewish mysticism as the fundamental aspects of the Jewish faith...

 dynasty of Ger

Ger (Hasidic dynasty)

Ger, or Gur is a Hasidic dynasty originating from Ger, the Yiddish name of Góra Kalwaria, a small town in Poland....

, a position he held from 1977 until 1992.

Being a Palestinian citizen, Alter and his family were able to enter Mandate Palestine during 1940 to escape Nazi persecution in Poland. Prior to becoming Rebbe of Ger, Alter was a businessman dealing in real estate.

During the time of his leadership, the Ger Hasidism grew greatly in the State of Israel. He continued the family tradition of vigorous leadership of the Agudat Israel

Agudat Israel

Agudat Yisrael began as the original political party representing the ultra-Orthodox population of Israel. It was the umbrella party for almost all ultra-Orthodox Jews in Israel, and before that in the British Mandate of Palestine...

 of Israel party whose representatives in the Israeli Knesset

Knesset

The Knesset is the unicameral legislature of Israel, located in Givat Ram, Jerusalem.-Role in Israeli Government :The legislative branch of the Israeli government, the Knesset passes all laws, elects the President and Prime Minister , approves the cabinet, and supervises the work of the government...

 (parliament) represent the interests of Haredi Judaism

Haredi Judaism

Haredi or Charedi/Chareidi Judaism is the most conservative form of Orthodox Judaism, often referred to as ultra-Orthodox. A follower of Haredi Judaism is called a Haredi ....

 in the Jewish state. It was during his stewardship of the party that the non-Hasidic Degel HaTorah

Degel HaTorah

Degel HaTorah is an Ashkenazi Haredi political party in Israel. For much of its existence it has been allied to Agudat Yisrael under the name United Torah Judaism.-Ideology:...

 party (that was within the United Torah Judaism

United Torah Judaism

United Torah Judaism is an alliance of Degel HaTorah and Agudat Israel, two small Israeli Haredi political parties in the Knesset. It was first formed in 1992.The two parties have not always agreed with each other about policy matters...

 party) split when Rabbi Elazar Shach

Elazar Shach

Elazar Menachem Man Shach also spelt Eliezer Schach, was a leading Lithuanian-born and educated Haredi rabbi in Bnei Brak, Israel. He also served as one of three co-deans of the Ponevezh yeshiva in Bnei Brak along with Rabbis Shmuel Rozovsky and Dovid Povarsky...

 broke with Agudat Israel and its Hasidic leadership, led mainly by the rebbe of Ger. Rabbi Shach then aligned with Rabbi Ovadia Yosef

Ovadia Yosef

Ovadia Yosef is the former Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel, a recognised Talmudic scholar and foremost halakhic authority.He currently serves as the spiritual leader of the Shas political party in the Israeli parliament...

 and had initially helped to launch the Sephardi

Sephardi Jews

Sephardi Jews is a general term referring to the descendants of the Jews who lived in the Iberian Peninsula before their expulsion in the Spanish Inquisition. It can also refer to those who use a Sephardic style of liturgy or would otherwise define themselves in terms of the Jewish customs and...

 Shas

Shas

Shas is an ultra-orthodox religious political party in Israel, primarily representing Sephardic and Mizrahi Haredi Judaism.Shas was founded in 1984 by dissident members of the Ashkenazi dominated Agudat Israel, to represent the interests of religiously observant Sephardic and Mizrahi ...

 political party.

Rabbi Simcha Bunim instituted the daily learning of a page of the Jerusalem Talmud

Jerusalem Talmud

The Jerusalem Talmud, talmud meaning "instruction", "learning", , is a collection of Rabbinic notes on the 2nd-century Mishnah which was compiled in the Land of Israel during the 4th-5th century. The voluminous text is also known as the Palestinian Talmud or Talmud de-Eretz Yisrael...

, similar to the renowned Daf Yomi

Daf Yomi

Daf Yomi "page [of the] day" or "daily folio") is a daily regimen undertaken to study the Babylonian Talmud one folio each day...

 of the Babylonian Talmud.

Rabbi Simcha Bunim died (cause is unknown) on the 7th of Tammuz 5752 (1992) and was interred in the cave of the Gerrer Rebbes in the Mount of Olives

Mount of Olives

The Mount of Olives is a mountain ridge in East Jerusalem with three peaks running from north to south. The highest, at-Tur, rises to 818 meters . It is named for the olive groves that once covered its slopes...

 cemetery.

Rebbes of Ger

1. Yitzchak Meir Alter
   Yitzchak Meir Alter
   Yitzchak Meir Alter , is considered to be the first Rebbe of the Ger Hasidic dynasty, which he founded in the town of Góra Kalwaria , Poland. He was also known as the Chidushei HaRim for his Torah books...
   
    (1798)-1866)
2. Yehudah Aryeh Leib Alter
   Yehudah Aryeh Leib Alter
   Yehudah Aryeh Leib Alter , also known by the title of his main work, the Sfas Emes, was a Hasidic rabbi who succeeded his grandfather, Rabbi Yitzchak Meir Alter, as the av beis din and Rav of Góra Kalwaria, Poland , and succeeded the Rebbe, Reb Heynekh of Alexander, as Rebbe of the Gerrer...
   
    (1847–1905)
3. Avraham Mordechai Alter
   Avraham Mordechai Alter
   Avraham Mordechai Alter , also known as the Imrei Emes after the works he authored, was the third Rebbe of the Hasidic dynasty of Ger, a position he held from 1905 until his death in 1948. He was one of the founders of the Agudas Israel in Poland and was influential in establishing a network of...
   
    (1866–1948)
4. Yisrael Alter
   Yisrael Alter
   Yisrael Alter, , also known as the Beis Yisroel after the works he authored, was the fourth Rebbe of the Hasidic dynasty of Ger, a position he held from 1948 until 1977....
   
    (1895–1977)
5. Simcha Bunim Alter (1898–1992)
6. Pinchas Menachem Alter
   Pinchas Menachem Alter
   Pinchas Menachem Alter, , also known as the Pnei Menachem after the works he authored, was the sixth Rebbe of the Hasidic dynasty of Ger, a position he held from 1992 until his death in 1996.-Early years:...
   
    (1926–1996)
7. Yaakov Aryeh Alter
   Yaakov Aryeh Alter
   Yaakov Aryeh Alter, , is the seventh and current Rebbe of the Hasidic dynasty of Ger, a position he has held since 1996. He lives in Israel and has followers in Europe and the United States...
   
   (b. 1939)