Reb Yehuda Aryeh Leib Alter was the third Rebbe in the Ger dynasty, and under his leadership, the Chassidus of Ger flourished, becoming the stronghold of Chassidus in all of Poland. He became the Rebbe at the age of 23, after the passing of his grandfather the Chidushei Harim. He is known by the title of his sefer “Sfas Emes”, which contains perushim on the Torah and Shas. He passed away at the young age of 58, on the 5th of Shvat, תרס"ה (1905) and is burried in Ger.
When the Sfas Emes was young, he and his friend once spent the whole night learning, and only at daybreak did they go to sleep. The following day, the Sfas Emes arrived a bit late to his learning session, and his grandfather reprimanded him. All the while, he sat listening without saying a word. When his friend asked him why he had not told his grandfather that he had stayed up late to learn, the Sfas Emes said, "Yes, but then I would have missed out on the admonishment of my grandfather..."
A Rebbe came to visit the Sfas Emes, and as they parted, the Rebbe expressed his hope that there should always be an ahava rabba (great love) between them. The Sfas Emes responded with a smile, "Besides for ahava rabba, we should also wish for an ahavas olam (literally: a love of the world); for often, there can be a great love between two Rebbes, yet among their chassidim there is no peace..."
In the Shul of the Sfas Emes, two daily minyanim for shachris took place successively. When the second minyan would begin to daven, the mispalelim from the first would stay to talk. When word of this reached the Sfas Emes, he rescheduled the minyanim so that the first group would finish socializing before the second minyan would begin.
