Why He Was Called the Alter

Most people who speak of Rav Simcha Zissel call him Der Alter, though few know where the title came from. Rav Chatzkel Levenstein, one of the best-known talmidim of the Kelm Talmud Torah, once explained it.

It is told that Rav Simcha Zissel did not consider himself worthy of being called a talmid of Rav Yisroel Salanter, even though everyone regarded Rav Yisroel as his main Rebbe. In his view, a person is a talmid only if he has truly acquired Torah from his Rebbe. He held Rav Yisroel in great esteem, yet as long as he had not made his Rebbe's way his own, even in some small measure, he would not count himself a talmid.

So out of respect he referred to Rav Yisroel as Der Alter, meaning the Elder. In time his own talmidim began to use the name for him. Far from Kelm, the name of the town was added.