Spinka (Hasidic dynasty)

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Hasidic dynasty founded in Spinka (Szaplonca) in Máramaros county, Hungary, now led by several rebbes in Israel and Brooklyn

Hasidic dynasties
Overview

Hasidic dynasties | Haredi and Hasidic groups in the US | Chabad-Lubavitch movement

Dynasties

Belz | Biala | Bobov | Boyan | Breslov | Chabad-Lubavitch | Chernobyl | Dushinsky | Ger | Karlin-Stolin | Lelov | Munkacs | Nadvorna | Pupa | Rachmastrivka | Sadigura | Sanz-Klausenburg | Sassov | Satmar | Shomer Emunim | Skulen | Skver | Slonim | Spinka | Toldos Aharon | Toldos Avraham Yitzchak | Tosh | Vizhnitz

Founders and early masters

Baal Shem Tov | Dov Ber of Mezeritch | Elimelech of Lizhensk | Shneur Zalman of Liadi | Nachman of Breslov | Moshe Leib of Sassov

Present-day rebbes

Aaron Teitelbaum | Zalman Teitelbaum | Yissachar Dov Rokeach | Yaakov Aryeh Alter | Yisroel Hager | Ben Zion Aryeh Leibish Halberstam | David Twersky | Boruch Meir Yaakov Shochet

20th-century rebbes

Joel Teitelbaum | Aharon Rokeach | Menachem Mendel Schneerson

Politics and communal bodies

Agudat Yisrael | United Torah Judaism | Degel HaTorah | Edah HaChareidis | Neturei Karta | Union of Orthodox Hebrew Congregations

Places

Uman | Stamford Hill | Williamsburg, Brooklyn | Kiryas Joel, New York | Bnei Brak | Beitar Illit | Modi'in Illit

United Kingdom

Satmar institutions in the UK | Belz Communities | Satmar Kolel

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Spinka (Spinker)
Founded 1873 Spinka (Szaplonca, Săpânța), Máramaros county, Kingdom of Hungary
Founder Yosef Meir Weiss (1838–1909)
Leader Rebbes Several; see Rebbes
Headquarters Several courts, in Bnei Brak, Jerusalem and Brooklyn, New York
Type Hasidic dynasty
Languages Notes

Spinka (also Spinker) is a Hasidic dynasty named after Spinka (Szaplonca or Săpânța), a small town near Sighet in Máramaros county, in what was then the Kingdom of Hungary. It was founded by Yosef Meir Weiss, who became rebbe in 1873. Rabinowicz writes that before the Second World War Spinka's following in Hungary was second only to that of Belz.[1][2][3][4] His son Yitzhak Eizig Weiss was killed at Auschwitz in 1944 with much of his family. Rebbes from the family later set up courts in Israel, chiefly in Bnei Brak and Jerusalem, and in Brooklyn.[1][5][6]

In 2007 a federal grand jury in Los Angeles indicted Naftali Tzvi Weisz, the Grand Rabbi of Spinka in Brooklyn, together with his assistant, several associates and five Spinka charities. The case concerned a scheme in which donors to the charities were secretly refunded up to 95 per cent of their gifts. Weisz pleaded guilty to one conspiracy count in 2009 and was sentenced to two years in prison.[7][8][9]

History

Founding

Yosef Meir Weiss was the son of Shmuel Weiss, a dayan of Munkács, and Rabinowicz gives his birth date as 18 Adar 1838. He studied in Ungvár and Huszt.[2] He was widowed twice. In 1870 he married Perl, the widowed daughter of Ezra Yaakov Bash of Spinka, who was a follower of Chaim Halberstam of Sanz.[2] Rabinowicz names his influences as Shalom Rokeach of Belz, Halberstam of Sanz and, above all, Yitzhak Eizig Eichenstein of Zydaczov. After Eichenstein died on 9 Sivan 1873, Weiss became rebbe in Spinka.[3]

Weiss died on 6 Sivan 1909. In 1972 his remains were reburied in Petah Tikva. His son published his writings after his death under the title Imre Yosef.[3] Writing in the YIVO Encyclopedia, Michael Silber lists Spinka among the new Hasidic dynasties whose followers were active in Sighet before the First World War.[4] Paul Robert Magocsi writes there that most Jews of Munkács followed either the Shapira dynasty or Spinka, and he names Weiss as one of the most influential rebbes of the two.[10]

Yitzhak Eizig Weiss

Weiss's only son, Yitzhak Eizig (1875–1944), founded the Bet Yisrael yeshiva.[3][11] The sources differ on where he lived after the First World War:

  • Rabinowicz's Spinka chapter says that during the war he lived in Budapest and then in Munkács, and moved to Selische to avoid friction with Chaim Elazar Shapira of Munkács.[3]
  • His Munkács chapter says Yitzhak Eizig lived in Munkács for twelve years and moved to Nagyzsulla in 1930.[12]

Heilman records one account of the Munkács succession in 1936. In it, Yitzhak Eizig handed the 23-year-old successor a kvittel (petition note) at the cemetery as a public sign of acceptance.[11]

After the Second World War began, Rabinowicz writes, Yitzhak Eizig sheltered Polish Jewish refugees in a bunker at his home. The Hungarian authorities arrested him for this and later released him. He also turned down a certificate for Palestine and visas for the United States and England.[13] Rabinowicz writes that 12,000 Jews were crowded into a ghetto the day after Passover. He gives the year as 1943, although he dates the family's arrival at Auschwitz to 13 Sivan 1944.[13][5] Yitzhak Eizig was killed at Auschwitz with his wife, Rachel Leah, and his sons Yisrael Hayyim and Avraham Yakir. Rabinowicz puts the number of family members killed by the Nazis at 31. Yitzhak Eizig's writings were later published as Hakal Yitzhak.[5]

Yaakov Yosef Weiss and Israel

Yaakov Yosef Weiss, son of Yisrael Hayyim, was born in Spinka on 12 Nisan 1916. Rabinowicz calls him the third rebbe of Spinka. His first wife and three children were killed in the war.[5][14] After the war he lived in Arad and then in New York, where he founded a beth midrash and a yeshiva. He settled in Bnei Brak in 1955 and had yeshivas there and in Jerusalem, and a school in Acre. In 1969 he bought 25 dunams in Petah Tikva for a planned neighbourhood, which had not been built when Rabinowicz was writing.[14] He died during Passover 1988 and was survived by three sons, all of whom became rebbes.[15]

Rebbes

Rebbes of Spinka named in the sources
Rebbe Dates Seat Notes
Yosef Meir Weiss (Imre Yosef) 1838–1909 Spinka Founder; rebbe from 1873.[2][3][10]
Yitzhak Eizig Weiss (Hakal Yitzhak) 1875–1944 Spinka, Munkács, Selische Only son of the founder; killed at Auschwitz.[3][5][11]
Yaakov Yosef Weiss 1916–1988 New York, then Bnei Brak (from 1955) Grandson of Yitzhak Eizig.[5][14][15]
Yisrael Hayyim Weiss born 1955, New York Rehov Dunolo, Bnei Brak Rebbe from 1988; Rabinowicz reported a monthly budget of more than $70,000, about a third of it from government subsidies.[1][2]
Yosef Meir Cahane 1910–1978 Jerusalem (from 1941) Son of Tzvi Hirsch Cahane, Yitzhak Eizig's son-in-law; Rabinowicz calls him the first of the dynasty to reach the Holy Land. Succeeded by his son Mordecai David Cahane.[15][6]
Nahman Cahane 1905–1976 Bnei Brak (from 1957) Son of Tzvi Hirsch Cahane; rabbi of Spinka from 1928, later rabbi of Cluj; in Israel from 1951. Succeeded by his son Moshe Elikum Bria Cahane (born 1936).[15]
Shmuel Tzvi Horowitz — Williamsburg, Brooklyn Grandson of Yitzhak Eizig; survived Auschwitz and founded Bet Yitzhak in Williamsburg in 1948.[6]
Naftali Tzvi Weisz born about 1948 Brooklyn Grand Rabbi of Spinka, so described by the US Attorney's Office (aged 59 in December 2007).[7]

Legal cases

Convictions

On 19 December 2007 the US Attorney's Office for the Central District of California announced the arrest of Naftali Tzi Weisz, the Grand Rabbi of Spinka, and his gabbai (assistant) Moshe E. Zigelman, both of Brooklyn, on a 37-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Los Angeles. Several associates were charged with them.[7] The court docket lists the case as USA v. Weisz, case 2:06-cr-00775, in the US District Court for the Central District of California.[16]

On 3 August 2009 Weisz pleaded guilty before Judge John F. Walter to a single conspiracy count, whose two objects were obstructing the Internal Revenue Service and running an unlicensed money-transmitting business. He admitted that he had solicited donations to Spinka organisations on a secret promise to refund most of the money, so that donors could claim deductions for the full amount. In his plea agreement he admitted learning from Zigelman that the Spinka charities had received $8,493,659 in 2006 and made "profits" of $744,596 after the refunds.[8] Zigelman had pleaded guilty in June 2008 and was sentenced to two years.[8][9]

On 21 December 2009 Judge Walter sentenced Weisz to two years in federal prison. The plea agreement had capped the sentence at three years.[8][9] The Department of Justice reported that the judge echoed findings in the pre-sentence report that refunding and laundering charitable gifts was a routine, generational practice among certain Hasidic groups.[9]

David Biale and his co-authors cite the case, with cases involving Bobov and New Square, among "the repeated cases of financial malfeasance within the Hasidic community", which they suggest may be "a product of the economic stresses under which contemporary Hasidim labor". In their summary, the Spinka Rebbe "pled guilty and served jail time for soliciting tens of millions of dollars in tax-free contributions to Spinka charities while secretly promising to refund up to 95 percent of contributors' 'donations'", and the contributors "then illegally claimed tax deductions on their bogus donations". They add that such cases "may also demonstrate an ambivalent attitude toward secular law: for some, circumventing it in order to support their communities may seem justified".[17]

According to NBC Los Angeles, the judge said he was convinced that Weisz "never took a penny for himself". The New York Jewish Week (published by JTA) also reported that the judge found Weisz had not acted to enrich himself.[18][19] The Los Angeles Times reported that about 270 letters supporting Weisz were sent to the court. Prosecutors had asked for the three-year maximum and described him in court papers as a "very hands-on director of the scheme". [20] In court, Weisz told the judge he was "embarrassed beyond words".[19][18]

Others convicted in the case:

  • Joseph Roth, an international accounts manager at the Israeli bank, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 14 months.[9]
  • Four Los Angeles men in the cash network pleaded guilty and were each sentenced to four months in prison:[8][9]
    • Yaacov Zeivald.
    • Yosef Nachum Naiman, who was also given 1,500 hours of community service and a $25,000 fine, on top of $10,000 already forfeited.
    • Alan Jay Friedman, who was also given 1,500 hours of community service and a $15,000 fine.
    • Moshe Arie Lazar, who was also given 1,500 hours of community service and ordered to forfeit $146,164.
  • According to the Department of Justice, a total of seven individuals had been convicted and sentenced by December 2009.[9]
  • Three donors pleaded guilty to tax evasion before indictment and received sentences of three to six months. In giving one of them six months, the judge called the crime a reflection of "arrogance".[8][9]
  • One of the charities, Yeshiva Imrei Yosef, pleaded guilty, with sentencing set for 15 January 2010. The Los Angeles Times quoted the prosecutor as expecting a fine of $1 million to $2 million.[9][20] The sentence actually imposed was not reported in the sources consulted.

Allegations

The 2007 indictment alleged two ways of refunding donors:[7]

  • cash payments through an underground money-transfer network linked to businesses in the Los Angeles jewellery district;
  • wire transfers from Spinka-controlled entities to secret accounts at a bank in Israel. Contributors could then take out loans against these accounts from the bank's Los Angeles branch, or pay Spinka an extra fee to bring the money back to the United States.

The indictment also charged Weisz and Zigelman with 19 counts of mail fraud, money-laundering conspiracy and 11 counts of international money laundering, and Zigelman with helping to prepare false tax returns. A Tel Aviv lawyer was also charged; the release said he was believed to be in Israel.[7] Weisz's guilty plea covered the single conspiracy count described above.[8]

Five Brooklyn charities were named as defendants in the money-laundering conspiracy count. These were Yeshiva Imrei Yosef, Yeshivath Spinka, Central Rabbinical Seminary, Machne Sva Rotzohn and Mesivta Imrei Yosef Spinka. The indictment alleged that they issued false receipts and received fees from the transfers.[7] The docket lists Central Rabbinical Seminary and Mesivta Imrei Yosef Spinka among the defendants.[16] Apart from Yeshiva Imrei Yosef's guilty plea, the outcome for the charities is not reported in the sources consulted.[9] In 2009 prosecutors said they were investigating more than 100 contributors.[8]

Registered organisations

The organisations below carry the Spinka name or one of the names listed in the 2007 indictment, and are recorded in IRS data published by ProPublica's Nonprofit Explorer. All are recorded with the IRS foundation code for churches, and ProPublica shows no Form 990 filings for any of them, so no financial figures are published.

Yeshiva Imrei Yosef, Central Rabbinical Seminary and Machne Sva Rotzohn Inc have the same names as three of the charities named in the indictment. The IRS register gives Yeshiva Imrei Yosef, Machne Sva Rotzohn Inc and Mesifta Imrei Yosef the same address, 5801 15th Avenue, Brooklyn, as Agudath Chasidei Spinka.

US tax-exempt organisations with Spinka or related names
Organisation EIN Address (register) IRS ruling
Agudath Chasidei Spinka 11-6038056 5801 15th Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11219 February 2015[21]
Mosdos Spinka 11-3143043 5109 18th Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11204 March 1993[22]
Mosdos Spinka International 11-3037537 3054 Bedford Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11210 February 1991[23]
Bnois Spinka 11-3039741 127 Wallabout Street, Brooklyn, NY 11206 July 1991[24]
United Spinka International 11-2862084 5107 18th Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11204 July 1987[25]
Igud Chasidai Spinka 11-3168701 3054 Bedford Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11210 September 1993[26]
Mesivta Tifereth Zvi Spinka 11-3550819 199 Lee Avenue, PMB 363, Brooklyn, NY 11211 August 2000[27]
Congregation Yeshiva Toldos Yitzchok Spinka Inc 11-2585675 1279 East 24th Street, Brooklyn, NY 11210 January 1982[28]
TA of Spinka 39-3338848 192 Keap Street, Brooklyn, NY 11211 July 2025[29]
Zichron Yakov Spinka 93-4217958 1152 46th Street, Brooklyn, NY 11219 June 2024[30]
Yeshiva Gedolah Imrei Yosef Dspinka Inc 11-2960037 1466 56th Street, Brooklyn, NY 11219 July 1989[31]
Yeshiva Imrei Yosef 23-7390834 5801 15th Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11219 August 1974[32]
Mesifta Imrei Yosef 11-3037647 5801 15th Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11219 April 1991[33]
Central Rabbinical Seminary 11-2981741 1462 56th Street, Brooklyn, NY 11219 September 1989[34]
Machne Sva Rotzohn Inc 13-3077504 5801 15th Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11219 March 1981[35]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Tzvi Rabinowicz, Hasidism in Israel: A History of the Hasidic Movement, Northvale, N.J.: Jason Aronson, 2000, p. 207.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Tzvi Rabinowicz, Hasidism in Israel: A History of the Hasidic Movement, Northvale, N.J.: Jason Aronson, 2000, p. 208.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 Tzvi Rabinowicz, Hasidism in Israel: A History of the Hasidic Movement, Northvale, N.J.: Jason Aronson, 2000, p. 209.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Michael K. Silber, Sighet Marmaţiei YIVO Encyclopedia of Jews in Eastern Europe, accessed 28 October 2026.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 Tzvi Rabinowicz, Hasidism in Israel: A History of the Hasidic Movement, Northvale, N.J.: Jason Aronson, 2000, p. 211.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Tzvi Rabinowicz, Hasidism in Israel: A History of the Hasidic Movement, Northvale, N.J.: Jason Aronson, 2000, p. 214.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 United States Attorney's Office, Central District of California, Release No. 07-164 US Department of Justice, 19 December 2007, accessed 28 October 2026.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 8.6 8.7 United States Attorney's Office, Central District of California, Release No. 09-093 US Department of Justice, 3 August 2009, accessed 28 October 2026.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.5 9.6 9.7 9.8 9.9 United States Attorney's Office, Central District of California, Release No. 09-148 US Department of Justice, 21 December 2009, accessed 28 October 2026.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Paul Robert Magocsi, Mukacheve YIVO Encyclopedia of Jews in Eastern Europe, accessed 28 October 2026.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 Samuel C. Heilman, "Munkács: An Oedipal Challenge" in Who Will Lead Us? The Story of Five Hasidic Dynasties in America, Oakland: University of California Press, 2017, ISBN 9780520277236, p. 33.
  12. ↑ Tzvi Rabinowicz, Hasidism in Israel: A History of the Hasidic Movement, Northvale, N.J.: Jason Aronson, 2000, p. 269.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Tzvi Rabinowicz, Hasidism in Israel: A History of the Hasidic Movement, Northvale, N.J.: Jason Aronson, 2000, p. 210.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 Tzvi Rabinowicz, Hasidism in Israel: A History of the Hasidic Movement, Northvale, N.J.: Jason Aronson, 2000, p. 212.
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 15.3 Tzvi Rabinowicz, Hasidism in Israel: A History of the Hasidic Movement, Northvale, N.J.: Jason Aronson, 2000, p. 213.
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 USA v. Weisz (2:06-cr-00775), California Central District Court PacerMonitor (docket), accessed 28 October 2026.
  17. ↑ 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. 759.
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 Rabbi Sentenced Two Years for Tax Fraud NBC Los Angeles, 21 December 2009, accessed 28 October 2026.
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 Chasidic Leader Sentenced To Prison New York Jewish Week (JTA), 24 December 2009, accessed 28 October 2026.
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 Victoria Kim, Rabbi given two years in tax scheme Los Angeles Times, 22 December 2009, accessed 28 October 2026.
  21. ↑ ProPublica, Agudath Chasidei Spinka Nonprofit Explorer (IRS Exempt Organizations Business Master File data), EIN 11-6038056, accessed 28 October 2026.
  22. ↑ ProPublica, Mosdos Spinka Nonprofit Explorer (IRS Exempt Organizations Business Master File data), EIN 11-3143043, accessed 28 October 2026.
  23. ↑ ProPublica, Mosdos Spinka International Nonprofit Explorer (IRS Exempt Organizations Business Master File data), EIN 11-3037537, accessed 28 October 2026.
  24. ↑ ProPublica, Bnois Spinka Nonprofit Explorer (IRS Exempt Organizations Business Master File data), EIN 11-3039741, accessed 28 October 2026.
  25. ↑ ProPublica, United Spinka International Nonprofit Explorer (IRS Exempt Organizations Business Master File data), EIN 11-2862084, accessed 28 October 2026.
  26. ↑ ProPublica, Igud Chasidai Spinka Nonprofit Explorer (IRS Exempt Organizations Business Master File data), EIN 11-3168701, accessed 28 October 2026.
  27. ↑ ProPublica, Mesivta Tifereth Zvi Spinka Nonprofit Explorer (IRS Exempt Organizations Business Master File data), EIN 11-3550819, accessed 28 October 2026.
  28. ↑ ProPublica, Congregation Yeshiva Toldos Yitzchok Spinka Inc Nonprofit Explorer (IRS Exempt Organizations Business Master File data), EIN 11-2585675, accessed 28 October 2026.
  29. ↑ ProPublica, TA of Spinka Nonprofit Explorer (IRS Exempt Organizations Business Master File data), EIN 39-3338848, accessed 28 October 2026.
  30. ↑ ProPublica, Zichron Yakov Spinka Nonprofit Explorer (IRS Exempt Organizations Business Master File data), EIN 93-4217958, accessed 28 October 2026.
  31. ↑ ProPublica, Yeshiva Gedolah Imrei Yosef Dspinka Inc Nonprofit Explorer (IRS Exempt Organizations Business Master File data), EIN 11-2960037, accessed 28 October 2026.
  32. ↑ ProPublica, Yeshiva Imrei Yosef Nonprofit Explorer (IRS Exempt Organizations Business Master File data), EIN 23-7390834, accessed 28 October 2026.
  33. ↑ ProPublica, Mesifta Imrei Yosef Nonprofit Explorer (IRS Exempt Organizations Business Master File data), EIN 11-3037647, accessed 28 October 2026.
  34. ↑ ProPublica, Central Rabbinical Seminary Nonprofit Explorer (IRS Exempt Organizations Business Master File data), EIN 11-2981741, accessed 28 October 2026.
  35. ↑ ProPublica, Machne Sva Rotzohn Inc Nonprofit Explorer (IRS Exempt Organizations Business Master File data), EIN 13-3077504, accessed 28 October 2026.
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