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Chasidim of Belz
[Yiddish, Belzer chasidim] - A Chasidic group
founded by Shalom Rokeach (1789-1855). Rokeach was known as
the "Belzer
Rebe" and studied under many leading tzaddikim, including
Yaakov
Yitzchak Ha-Levi Horovitz of Lublin. Shalom Rokeach settled
in Belz [in
present-day Ukraine] in approximately 1815. Among his
followers he was
regarded as a miracle-worker-it was believed for example
that he could
free human souls that had been imprisoned within animals and
exorcise
dybbuks from the bodies of the possessed. He put great
emphasis on
observing religious laws and doing good deeds, which he
considered more
important than competence in Talmudic studies. He opposed
the Haskalah,
and was famous for discussing many things with his wife,
Malka. His
followers also emulated his attitude towards women, which
differed from
that of traditional Judaism.
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Rokeach had five sons, all of whom became
well-known scholars. His youngest son, Joshua (1825-1894)
succeeded him,
and was esteemed for his breadth of knowledge. He was one of
the first
Chasidic tzaddikim to be involved in politics. In 1878, he
founded the
group Machtsikei Ha-dat [Hebrew, "Upholding the Faith"]. He
was
recognized as the informal leader of the Orthodox Jews of
Galicia, and
strove to maintain the principles of traditional Judaism. He
was
succeeded by another son, Isachar Dov (1854-1927), who
became famous in
Chernobyl, where he lived for several years. Like his
father, he was
involved in politics, and supported the organization of
religious
schools for girls known as Beys Yakov schools. His son and
successor,
Aron (1880-1957), also actively participated in society. For
example, he
intervened with the Prime Minister, K. Bartel, for subsidies
to schools
run by Orthodox organizations.
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During the Second World War, Aron was in
several ghettos, where he hid using assumed names. In 1944,
he managed
to leave for Palestine, where he settled in Tel Aviv.
Because all his
children perished in the Holocaust, after 1965 he was
succeeded by his
nephew Isachar Dov (born in 1948), whom he had adopted. He
expanded a
yeshiva that had been founded by Aron in Jerusalem, and
funded a nearby
synagogue. He remains one of the most influential tzaddikim
to this day.
(H.W./CM)
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