A Chanukas Habayis was held at the historic Gerer Beis Medrash in Gur, Poland, marking the return of the site to the ownership of the Gerer Chassidus for the first time since World War II.
The Beis Medrash once served as the spiritual center for thousands of Gerer Chassidim and their Rebbes before the war. Attached to it was the home of the previous Rebbes — a place steeped in generations of kedusha and leadership. After the Holocaust, the property fell under Polish government control and sat neglected for decades.
The Gerer Rebbe shlit”a made reclaiming the site a personal mission, and after years of legal battles, the property has been repurchased and carefully restored to its former dignity.
The effort was made possible by the Fishoff Family, who sponsored the Beis Medrash, and Mr. Shlomo Werdiger, who sponsored the restoration of the Rebbes’ residence.
For the Fishoff family, the moment carried deep personal significance. The Beis Medrash was dedicated l’zecher nishmas their father, Yechiel Benzion (Benny) Fishoff z”l — a Holocaust survivor who davened in the very same Beis Medrash as a child in Poland. Mr. Fishoff z”l went on to become a distinguished baal tzedakah who played a central role in supporting and rebuilding the Gerer Chassidus in the postwar years, a legacy his family continues.
Among those in attendance at the Chanukas Habayis was the Rebbe’s son, Reb Nechemia Alter.
The restoration reconnects the Gur of prewar Europe with the Gur of today — returning a place from which, as those present described it, “great light once came forth,” back into the hands of the Chassidus.
(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
