Days of history and holiness have been lived through by the Gerer community in America, the chassidim who have flown in from Eretz Yisroel, and by an admiring Klal Yisroel community in the Tri-State area, many who have joined some of the uplifting and joyful events.
The Rebbe has made the historic move of bringing the wedding of a grandchild to
America—and with that the aura of the Shabbosim, the tischen, and other gatherings, all of
which has never occurred in the annals of the history of the Gerer Chassidic movement.
A tireless and passionate force behind this entire three-week visit—and an important pillar of the worldwide network of the Gerer chassidus—is the renowned philanthropist and askan Reb Shloime Werdiger, chairman of the board of Agudath Israel of America.
Observing Mr. Werdiger in the vicinity of the Rebbe is a lesson in emunas tzaddikim and bittul to tzaddikim. This wealthy philanthropist who is given honor everywhere he goes dons an aura of awe, reverence, and undying love when he is at his rebbes side; and his loyalty to the ‘house of Ger’ is unending. He was given the honor of hosting this final sheva brachos, concluding this tour of uplifted holiness for the American chassidim.
The event was hosted in New Square, which offered a place that could accommodate the
massive crowd. In the early afternoon hours, streams of men, women and children could be seen making their way out of Boro Park… eager for one last glimpse, a few more precious moments with the Rebbe.
The roster of important personalities who came out in honor of Ger and in honor of the
distinguished host is too lengthy to enumerate…
From Rav Shmuel Kamenetzky, to the Viznitzer Rebbe and Rav Baruch Mordechai Ezrachi who find themselves here these days, from the Skverer Rebbe and his entire family, to the entire Agudah leadership who were awed by the sights and sounds that are rarely seen—every moment seemed to bring another important arrival.
Special grammen were composed and sung, accompanied by the famed Meir Adler who has
been playing the Gerer court for 25 years… and would not miss this simcha as well. As the
evening wore on, the elevation and the euphoria, the connection and the outpouring of love
and joy to the Rebbe, and to generations of Gerer Rebbeim, only grew.
On a related note, some have observed the following coincidence:
As the final strains of the music from this uplifted simcha, with Reb Shloime escorting his
beloved Rebbe one last time to his residence… the clock ran out on the tenure of former
governor Andrew Cuomo—a fitting conclusion at a fitting time, for this legendary Klal Yisroel askan.
