About the Sfas Emes

Rabbi Yehudah Aryeh Leib Alter (1847–1905), known by the title of his great work as the Sfas Emes(“the Language of Truth”), was the second Rebbe of the Gerrer chassidic dynasty — the largest chassidic community in pre-war Poland.

Orphaned young, he was raised by his grandfather, the Chiddushei HaRim, the first Gerrer Rebbe, whose teachings — together with those of the Kotzker Rebbe — shaped his penetrating, demanding, and deeply optimistic approach to the inner life. When he assumed leadership in 1870 at the age of twenty-three, he began delivering the Shabbos and Yom Tov teachings that his chassidim recorded and that were published after his passing as the five volumes of the Sfas Emes.

The central theme to which he returns again and again is the nekudah penimis — the inner point of Divine vitality hidden within every created thing, every moment of time, and every Jewish soul. The work of a Jew is to uncover that point: to find the Shabbos within the week, the redemption within the exile, the truth within the concealment.

This library presents the original Hebrew text of the Sfas Emes on the Torah and festivals — nearly five thousand essays spanning the years 5631–5665 (1870–1905) — together with a growing collection of English translations. Each translated essay interleaves the Hebrew text, a faithful English rendering, and an explanation that opens the teaching to readers at every level.

The translation project is ongoing, and new essays are added every week — subscribe to receive the week's essay by email.