Skulen (Hasidic dynasty)
Hasidic dynasty from Sculeni in Bessarabia, based since 1960 in New York
| Skulen | |
|---|---|
| Founded | Sculeni, Moldavia (Bessarabia) |
| Founder | Eliezer Zusia Portugal (1898–1982) |
| Leader | Rebbes Aron Meir Portugal (Borough Park); Eliezer Zusia Portugal (Linden, New Jersey) |
| Headquarters | Borough Park, Brooklyn, New York |
| Type | Hasidic dynasty |
| Notes | |
Skulen (also Skulener) is a Hasidic dynasty named after the town of Sculeni, where its founder, Eliezer Zusia Portugal (1898–1982), was rabbi.[1] After the Second World War he ran schools and orphanages for Jewish children in Romania. In 1959 the Communist authorities jailed him and his son, Yisroel Avrohom. Both were released after pressure from abroad and settled in New York in 1960.[1][2] The historians David Biale and his co-authors list Skulen among the new Hasidic communities that came out of Hungary and Romania after the war.[3] The dynasty's main centre is in Borough Park, Brooklyn.[4]
History
Eliezer Zusia Portugal
According to The Encyclopedia of Hasidism, edited by Tzvi Rabinowicz, Eliezer Zusia Portugal was born in Romania on Rosh Hodesh Heshvan 1898, the son of Israel Abraham (died 1912). He studied under Hayyim Mordecai Roller, Bezalel Zeev Shafran and Yehudah Leib Zirelson, and married Sheina Rachel, a descendant of the Mokhiah of Polonnoye. He was first rabbi in Skuleni and in the 1930s moved to Czernowitz, where the Aguda made him director of kashrut. He was also principal of the Beis Yaakov teachers' seminary there.[1]
During and after the war he travelled throughout Romania, setting up schools and orphanages for young Holocaust survivors, and carried on despite harassment by the Communist authorities.[1] The Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) reported in August 1959 that he and his son had been released after being held for several months "pending investigation of charges that followed the aged rabbi's refusal to give up his attempts to locate and care for Rumanian Jewish orphans". JTA added that he had defied police orders to stay at home and stop travelling around the country.[5] In April 1960 JTA reported that he had arrived in Brussels by plane from Romania with his family, on his way to the United States, aged 62. It said he and his son had been arrested on 8 April 1959 and released after the United Nations intervened; a UN under-secretary was told on 18 August 1959 that the rabbi was being released. JTA described him as formerly spiritual leader of the Jewish community in Chernowitz and later at "Skuleny".[2] The Forward gives the dates as April 1959 for the arrest, September 1959 for the release and August 1960 for the arrival in the United States.[6]
Chabad.org names Harry Goodman of Agudath Israel, Rabbi Eliezer Silver and Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the Lubavitcher Rebbe, among those who campaigned for the release.[7]
In New York the family settled first in Crown Heights and then in Williamsburg. He set up a network of institutions in Israel, Chesed L'Avraham, which according to the Encyclopedia served the needs of new immigrants from Russia.[1] Chabad.org describes Chesed L'Avraham as a charity the father set up "for disadvantaged children", which the son continued to run.[7] He wrote Kedushat Eliezer on Hanukkah and Noam Eliezer on Genesis, both published in New York in 1983. He died on the eve of Rosh Hodesh Elul 1982 and was succeeded by his son.[1]
Yisroel Avrohom Portugal
Chabad.org says that Yisroel Avrohom Portugal was born in Sculeni in 1924 and moved to Czernowitz shortly before the Second World War. He helped his father care for Jewish orphans, and after the war the two opened an orphanage in Bucharest. Chabad.org reports that the father was arrested several times from 1949, and that in 1959 the authorities arrested both men and charged them with treason. Yisroel Avrohom succeeded his father in 1982.[7] His wife, Reizel, died in 2005. He died at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore on 1 April 2019, aged 95, and was buried in Monsey.[6][7] The Forward called him "the last Holocaust-era rebbe to lead a significant Hasidic sect". It reported that he opposed internet use and was one of the organisers of the 2013 anti-internet rally at Citi Field, and that his tunes to the Psalms are sung throughout the Hasidic community.[6] Biale and his co-authors mention Skulen melodies among those on David Werdyger's records, which helped spread Hasidic music.[8]
Since 2019
The Forward, citing The Lakewood Scoop, reported that his eldest son, Yeshaya Yaakov Portugal, then living in Montreal, would succeed him, and that other sons led local Skulen communities.[6] Yeshaya Yaakov Portugal died in September 2024, aged 68.[9] About two weeks later, at a ceremony in the Skulen synagogue in Borough Park, his two sons were installed as rebbes: Aron Meir Portugal to lead the community in Borough Park, and Eliezer Zusia Portugal in Linden, New Jersey. According to Boro Park 24, Skulen rebbes from Monsey, Lakewood and Williamsburg attended.[4]
Rebbes
| # | Rebbe | Dates | Rebbe from |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Eliezer Zusia Portugal | 1898–1982 | Rabbi in Sculeni before the 1930s |
| 2 | Yisroel Avrohom Portugal | 1924–2019 | 1982 |
| 3 | Yeshaya Yaakov Portugal | died 2024, aged 68 | 2019 |
| 4 | Aron Meir Portugal (Borough Park) and Eliezer Zusia Portugal (Linden) | 2024 |
Legal cases
No criminal conviction, civil judgment or reported allegation of sexual abuse, fraud or money laundering involving the Skulen rebbes or the dynasty's registered institutions was found in the court records and press reports consulted.
Allegations
In April 1959 the Romanian Communist authorities arrested Eliezer Zusia Portugal and his son. Chabad.org and the Forward say they were charged with, or suspected of, treason.[7][6] JTA reported that the charges followed the father's refusal to stop looking for and caring for Jewish orphans. Both were released later that year, and no trial or conviction is reported in the sources consulted.[5][2]
Charities and trustees
United Kingdom
Searches of the Charity Commission for England and Wales register and of Companies House for "Skulen" and "Skulener" return no charity or company linked to the dynasty.[10][11]
Canada
A search of the Canada Revenue Agency list of charities for "Skulen" returns no organisation.[12]
United States
The organisations below carry the Skulen name and are recorded in IRS data published by ProPublica's Nonprofit Explorer. Tzidkas Rachel Skulen Hachnasos Kalla Inc is the only one with Form 990 returns on ProPublica. Its reported revenue and expenses were $553,520 and $654,829 for 2011, $697,816 and $648,011 for 2012, $612,775 and $591,151 for 2014, $713,620 and $752,991 for 2015, and $502,211 and $579,902 for 2016.[13]
| Organisation | EIN | Address (register) | IRS ruling |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chasidei Skulen De-lakewood Inc | 22-3849321 | 117 Hudson St, Lakewood, NJ 08701 | March 2002[14] |
| Cong Noam Eliezer Skulen | 20-5316703 | 4 Blueberry Hill Rd, Spring Valley, NY 10977 | May 2010[15] |
| Lakewood Skulener Kloiz Inc | 22-3812787 | 5 James St, Lakewood, NJ 08701 | January 2003[16] |
| Tzidkas Rachel Skulen Hachnasos Kalla Inc | 11-3247130 | 1315 54th Street, Brooklyn, NY 11219 | May 1995[13] |
Israel
A search of the Israeli Registrar of Associations for "סקולען" (Skulen) returns one association, Neimos Yisrael Skulen (נעימות ישראל סקולען, 580715167). It was registered on 30 December 2020 at Chana Street 25, Jerusalem, to build and run educational institutions, a ritual bath, study houses and a kollel and to support the needy. It reported income of ₪2,511,492 for 2024.[17]
See also
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Tzvi M. Rabinowicz (ed.), The Encyclopedia of Hasidism, Northvale, NJ: Jason Aronson, 1996, ISBN 1-56821-123-6, p. 373, s.v. "Portugal, Eliezer Zusya".
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Famed Rabbi Permitted to Leave Rumania; Had Been Arrested Jewish Telegraphic Agency, 1 April 1960, accessed 29 October 2026.
- ↑ David Biale, David Assaf, Benjamin Brown, Uriel Gellman, Samuel C. Heilman, Moshe Rosman, Gadi Sagiv and Marcin Wodziński, Hasidism: A New History, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2018, p. 625.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 BoroPark24 Staff, Historic Hachtarah in Skulen: Sons of Skulen Rebbe zt"l Crowned as New Rebbes BoroPark24, 23 September 2024, accessed 29 October 2026.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Famed Rabbi Released in Rumania; Fate of Other Arrested Rabbis Unknown Jewish Telegraphic Agency, 24 August 1959, accessed 29 October 2026.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 Josh Nathan-Kazis, The Last Holocaust-Era Rebbe Dies, And A Neighborhood Shuts Down To Mourn The Forward, 2 April 2019, accessed 29 October 2026.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 Mordechai Rubin, Rabbi Yisroel Avrohom Portugal, 95, the Last American Rebbe Born in Pre-War Europe Chabad.org, 4 April 2019, accessed 29 October 2026.
- ↑ David Biale, David Assaf, Benjamin Brown, Uriel Gellman, Samuel C. Heilman, Moshe Rosman, Gadi Sagiv and Marcin Wodziński, Hasidism: A New History, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2018, p. 800.
- ↑ Joseph Feldman, Skulener Rebbe, Rav Yeshaya Yaakov Portugal Passes Away at 68 VINnews, 7 September 2024, accessed 29 October 2026.
- ↑ Charity Commission, Register of Charities search results for "Skulen" Charity Commission for England and Wales, accessed 29 October 2026.
- ↑ Companies House, Search results for "Skulen" Find and update company information, accessed 29 October 2026.
- ↑ Canada Revenue Agency, "List of charities: basic search results – organization name 'Skulen'", accessed 29 October 2026.
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 ProPublica, Tzidkas Rachel Skulen Hachnasos Kalla Inc Nonprofit Explorer (IRS Exempt Organizations Business Master File data), EIN 11-3247130, accessed 29 October 2026.
- ↑ ProPublica, Chasidei Skulen De-lakewood Inc Nonprofit Explorer (IRS Exempt Organizations Business Master File data), EIN 22-3849321, accessed 29 October 2026.
- ↑ ProPublica, Cong Noam Eliezer Skulen Nonprofit Explorer (IRS Exempt Organizations Business Master File data), EIN 20-5316703, accessed 29 October 2026.
- ↑ ProPublica, Lakewood Skulener Kloiz Inc Nonprofit Explorer (IRS Exempt Organizations Business Master File data), EIN 22-3812787, accessed 29 October 2026.
- ↑ Registrar of Associations, Israeli Ministry of Justice, Register of associations and public benefit companies: search "סקולען" data.gov.il, accessed 29 October 2026.