Belz (Hasidic Movement)
Belz is a Hasidic movement within Orthodox Judaism that was founded in the former East Polish, Galician town of Belz ( Ukraine since 1951 ).
Rabbis and Religious Education
The rabbis of the Belz community belong to the Rokeach family . The founder is Schalom Rokeach (called Sar Scholem , 1779–1855). The Belz Synagogue was built under his leadership in 1843 .
After his death, the youngest son Yehoshua Rokeach (1825-1894) became Belzer Rebbe . The third Rebbe in this tradition is Yissachar Dov Rokeach I (1854–1926).
Some important Jewish scholars of the time were Belzer Hasidim, such as Rabbi Shalom Mordechai Schwadron. The students and scribes of the Belzer Hasidim were called Joschwim (sedentary people). This includes men of all marital status who prayed and studied all day in the synagogue . This was made possible by food and other donations from the surrounding area.
After Yissachar Dov's death in 1926, the office of Rebbe went to his eldest son Aharon Rokeach (1877-1957).
During the occupation of Poland in World War II , the Belz community was almost completely destroyed. Supported by Belzer Hasidim from abroad, the Rebbe and his half-brother Rabbi Mordechai von Bilgorai managed to escape via Budapest to Palestine in January 1944 .
New beginning in Israel
Aharon Rokeach, who lost his entire family (wife, children, grandchildren), together with Mordechai, founded the Belzer movement in Tel Aviv . Both married again as widowers, and Rabbi Mordechai's son Yissachar Dov Rokeach II was born in 1948.
Rabbi Mordechai died a year later at the age of 47. Rebbe Aharon took over the education of his brother's son and prepared him for the successor as Belzer Rebben.
Rabbi Aharon laid the foundation for the growth of the Belzer Chasidut by founding Torah schools and yeshivot in Tel Aviv, Bnei Brak and Jerusalem. In 1950 the Rebbe's seat moved to Jerusalem. He died in 1957 when his nephew, who was to be his successor, was 9 years old, so the group lacked a practicing Rebbe for the next nine years.
Yissachar Dov married the daughter of the Wiznitzer Rebbe (Moshe Yehoshua Hager) at the age of 17, moved to Bnei Brak to be closer to his father-in-law, and returned to Jerusalem a year later. Here he took over the post of Belzer Rebbe, but some of the Belzer refused to recognize him.
Several schools and yeshivot were founded and expanded under his leadership . Politically, they turned away from strict anti-Zionism and worked within the political system in Israel , but still rejected Zionism . Since 1980, Yissachar Dov Rokeach has sponsored the construction of a monumental synagogue in Jerusalem with 6,000 seats, which was inaugurated in 2000.
See also
- Jewish cemetery (Bels) with the tombs of the rabbis
Individual evidence
literature
- Dovid Rossoff: Where Heaven Touches Earth. Jewish Life in Jerusalem from Medieval Times to the Present. Jerusalem 1998.
- Yisroel Spiegel: The Belz Beis Medrash in Yerushalayim: Full Circle. De'iah Ve'Dibur, 2000.
- Yosef Israel: Rescuing the Rebbe of Belz. Mesorah Publications, Ltd., 2005.
Web links
- Belz on Hasic News (en)