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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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