 Groner was a direct descendant of Shneur Zalman of Liadi, the founding Rebbe of Chabad-Lubavitch.Groner studied at the Central Yeshiva Tomchei Temimim Lubavitch at 770 Eastern Parkway in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, where he excelled as a student.He often spoke in learning with Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the future Lubavitcher Rebbe, who was then known as the son-in-law of the sixth Chabad Rebbe, Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn, and had an office in the building.