Difference between revisions of "Vizhnitz (Hasidic dynasty)"

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''Vizhnitz''' (sometimes '''Viznitz''' or '''Wiznitz''') is the name of a [[Hasidic dynasty]] founded by Rabbi Menachem Mendel Hager. Vizhnitz ('''ויז׳ניץ''' or '''וויזשניץ''') is the [[Yiddish]] name of [[Vyzhnytsia]], a town in present-day [[Ukraine]] (then, a village in Austrian [[Bukovina]]).
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{{short description|'''Hasidic dynasty from Vyzhnytsia, Bukovina; Agudah-aligned courts in [[Bnei Brak]], [[Haifa]], [[Monsey]] / [[Kaser]], [[Beit Shemesh]] and [[London]]'''}}
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{{Infobox religious group
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| name = Vizhnitz
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| native_name = חסידות ויז׳ניץ
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| type = [[Hasidic]] court (Hager family)
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| main_classification = [[Hasidism]] (Kosov–Vizhnitz / Ruzhin-related)
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| theology = Mainstream Haredi; [[Agudat Yisrael]] participation; not Satmar-style anti-Zionism
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| structure = Multiple living rebbes after 1972 and 2012 / 2018 splits
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| founder = [[Menachem Mendel Hager]] (1830–1884)
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| founded_date = 1854–c. 1860s
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| founded_place = [[Vyzhnytsia]] (Vizhnitz), Bukovina
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| leader_title = Rebbe (Bnei Brak, Shikun Vizhnitz)
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| leader_name = [[Yisroel Hager]] (son of [[Moshe Yehoshua Hager]])
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| leader_title2 = Rebbe (Monsey / Kaser)
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| leader_name2 = [[Yisroel Hager (Monsey)|Yisroel Hager]] (son of [[Mordechai Hager]])
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| members = On the order of 10,000-plus households across all Hager branches (mid-2010s counts)
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| area = [[Israel]]; [[United States]]; [[United Kingdom]]; [[Canada]]; [[Belgium]]
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| language = Yiddish; Hebrew
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| headquarters = Kiryat Vizhnitz, [[Bnei Brak]]; [[Kaser, New York]]; [[Ramat Vizhnitz]], [[Haifa]]
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}}
  
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Followers of the [[rebbe]]s of Vizhnitz are called ''Vizhnitzer [[Hasidic Judaism|Hasidim]]''.
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'''[[Vizhnitz]]''' (also '''Viznitz''', '''Wiznitz'''; Yiddish: ויז׳ניץ / וויזשניץ) is a [[Hasidic]] dynasty founded by [[Menachem Mendel Hager]] in [[Vyzhnytsia]], Bukovina (now Ukraine). Followers are Vizhnitzer Hasidim. After the Holocaust the main reconstitution was in [[Bnei Brak]] under [[Chaim Meir Hager]] (Imrei Chaim). The court then split geographically: Bnei Brak under [[Moshe Yehoshua Hager]] (Yeshuos Moshe, d. 2012) and Monsey / [[Kaser, New York]] under his brother [[Mordechai Hager]] (Toras Mordechai, d. 2018). A parallel Seret-Vizhnitz court occupies [[Ramat Vizhnitz]] in [[Haifa]].
  
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==History of dynastic leadership==
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Unlike [[Satmar]], Vizhnitz sits inside [[Agudat Yisrael]] / [[United Torah Judaism]]: it takes coalition money for housing and schools, fields rebbes on the [[Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah]], and does not treat the State of Israel as heresy. Sons do not serve in the [[IDF]] as a communal norm. After the 7 October 2023 attacks the Bnei Brak rebbe [[Yisroel Hager]] recited a one-off prayer for Jews “who stand in battle,” not the official IDF prayer and not a standing liturgy.<ref name="JPostPrayer">Levi Cooper, [https://www.jpost.com/judaism/article-777143 Israel-Hamas war: A Hassidic rebbe's prayer for soldiers] ''Jerusalem Post'', 8 December 2023.</ref>
  
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===Menachem Mendel Hager===
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[[Marcin Wodziński]]’s mid-2010s telephone-book counts (''Historical Atlas of Hasidism'', 2018) put the Bnei Brak Shikun court at about 5,000 households, Monsey Vizhnitz about 2,800–3,500, Seret-Vizhnitz Haifa about 1,300, and the smaller Bnei Brak “Merkaz” court of [[Menachem Mendel Hager]] (son of Moshe Yehoshua) in the hundreds to about 1,000.
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Menachem Mendel Hager was born on May 17, 1830, in [[Kosiv]]. He was the son of Rabbi Chaim Hager of Kosiv, and the son-in-law of Rabbi [[Israel Friedman of Ruzhyn]]. He was appointed Rebbe at the age of 24, and soon after, he moved to Vyzhnytsia, a small town close to Kosiv. As his reputation grew, so did his followers. He became known and admired for his charitable acts, sincerity in prayer, and love for [[Eretz Yisrael]]. In his older years, he endeavored to emigrate there. He had two sons, Reb Boruch and another, Reb Yaakov Dovid, who died during his lifetime. His son-in-law was the son of Rabbi [[Yehoshua Rokeach]] of [[Belz]], Reb Shmuel of Sokal. His Torah thoughts were published under the title ''Tzemach Tzaddik''. He died on October 18, 1884, and was buried in Vyzhnytsia. His son Reb Boruch took his place, becoming the second Rebbe of Vizhnitz.
 
  
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===Boruch Hager===
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== History ==
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Boruch Hager was born in 1845 and was named after Rabbi [[Boruch of Medzhybizh]] at the behest of his grandfather, [[Yisrael Friedman of Ruzhin|Yisroel Friedman]] of [[Ruzhin (Hasidic dynasty)|Ruzhyn]]. In 1885, aged 40, he inherited the mantle of leadership from his father, Menachem Mendel Hager, and became rebbe to thousands of Hasidim. He led them for only eight years until his death in 1892. His Torah thoughts were collected in ''Imrei Boruch'' by his son-in-law. Eight of his sons became rebbes in different locals: His eldest, Reb Yisroel, succeeded him in Vyzhnytsia; Reb Chaim became rebbe in [[Ottynia]]; Reb Moshe in [[Suceava]]; Reb Shmuel Avrohom Abba in [[Horodenka]]; Reb Yaakov Yitzchok Dovid in [[Storozhynets]]; Reb Pinchos in [[Borşa|Borsha]]; Reb Feivish in Zelishtshik; Reb Yechiel Michel succeeded his brother in Horodenka. Another son, Reb Sholom, died in his youth. His sons-in-law were Reb Shmuel Dov Chodorov of Petriva; Reb Mordechai Chodorov of [[Kolomea]], who published ''Imrey Boruch''; Reb Sholom Yosef Friedman of Sadigur-Chernovitz.
 
  
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===Yisroel Hager===
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=== [[Menachem Mendel Hager]] (Tzemach Tzaddik) ===
  
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Yisroel Hager was born on August 20, 1860. He was the first-born son of Rabbi Boruch Hager. He married the daughter of Rabbi [[Ropshitz (Hasidic dynasty)#Lineage|Meir Horowitz]] of [[Tarnobrzeg|Dzhikov]]. In 1875, he moved to his father-in-law's house and studied at great length with his brother-in-law Rabbi Yehoshua of Dzikov. Three years later he returned to Vyzhnytsia and became very close to his grandfather, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Hager. In 1893 he was appointed as rebbe in Vyzhnytsia. The young rebbe invigorated the dynasty and attracted many more followers from the surrounding provinces. He established many [[Talmud Torah]]s, and also a yeshiva, to which he appointed his son Rabbi Menachem Mendel as [[rosh yeshiva]]. When [[World War I]] broke out he was forced to move to Grosswardein ([[Oradea]]). He lived there until his death on 2 June 1936.<ref>[http://edocs.ub.uni-frankfurt.de/volltexte/2008/38052/original/Israelit_1936_23.pdf ''Der Israelit'', 4 June 1936, p. 13] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719103629/http://edocs.ub.uni-frankfurt.de/volltexte/2008/38052/original/Israelit_1936_23.pdf |date=July 19, 2011 }}</ref> In 1949, his remains were transferred to Israel and re-interred in Zichron Meir, [[Bnei Brak]].
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Born 17 May 1830 in [[Kosiv]], son of [[Chaim Hager of Kosov]] and son-in-law of [[Israel Friedman of Ruzhyn]]. Appointed rebbe at 24, he moved to nearby Vyzhnytsia. Known for charity, prayer and attachment to Eretz Yisrael. Died 18 October 1884; buried in Vyzhnytsia. Torah collected as ''Tzemach Tzaddik''. Succeeded by his son [[Boruch Hager]]. A son-in-law was a son of [[Yehoshua Rokeach]] of [[Belz]].<ref name="YIVOKosov">Gad Sagiv, [https://encyclopedia.yivo.org/article.aspx/Kosov-Vizhnits_Hasidic_Dynasty Kosov-Vizhnits Hasidic Dynasty] ''YIVO Encyclopedia''.</ref>
  
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Hager had 5 sons and six daughters. Four of his sons became Rebbes:
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=== [[Boruch Hager]] (Imrei Boruch) ===
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*Reb '''Menachem Mendel of [[Vişeu de Sus|Visheve]]'''
 
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*Reb '''[[Vizhnitz (Hasidic dynasty)#Chaim Meir Hager|Chaim Meir]]''' (Chayim Meir'l), who inherited his father's position in Grosswardein
 
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*Reb '''Eliezer of Vyzhnytsia''', author of ''Demesek Eliezer''
 
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*Reb '''Boruch of [[Siret]]''', founder of the Seret-Vizhnitz Hasidic dynasty
 
  
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===Chaim Meir Hager===
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Born 1845; named after [[Boruch of Medzhybizh]] at the request of his grandfather of Ruzhin. Rebbe from 1885 until his death in 1892. Eight sons became rebbes in Vyzhnytsia, Ottynia, Suceava, Horodenka, Storozhynets, Borsa, Zelishtshik and elsewhere — the origin of the later Satmar-era map of small Hager towns. ''Imrei Boruch'' was published by a son-in-law.
  
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After the [[Holocaust]], Reb Chaim Meir settled in [[Bnei Brak]], [[Israel]], to build a community there. Disciples from pre-war Europe gathered around him, and formed a comprehensive net of educational and communal institutions. He became a spiritual mentor of the [[Agudat Yisrael|Agudas Yisrael]] party in the Israeli [[Knesset]]. Agudas Yisrael won substantial government aid for Bnei Brak and affiliated communities, in return for its support in coalition governments.<ref name="nyc-architecture1">[http://www.nyc-architecture.com/WBG/wbg-jewish.htm The Roots of Hasidism: The Two Viznitz's (nyc-architecture.com)] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110123205040/http://www.nyc-architecture.com/WBG/wbg-jewish.htm |date=January 23, 2011 }}</ref>
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=== [[Yisroel Hager]] (Ahavas Yisrael) ===
  
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Reb Chaim Meir had two sons: the older Moshe (Reb Moshelle), and the younger Mordechai (Reb Mottele).<ref name="nyc-architecture1"/>
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Born 20 August 1860; married a daughter of [[Meir Horowitz]] of Dzikov. Rebbe in Vyzhnytsia from 1893; built Talmud Torahs and a yeshiva headed by his son Menachem Mendel. In the First World War the court moved to Grosswardein ([[Oradea]]). He died there on 2 June 1936.<ref name="Israelit1936">''Der Israelit'', 4 June 1936, p. 13.</ref> Remains were reburied in Zichron Meir, [[Bnei Brak]], in 1949. Four sons became rebbes: Menachem Mendel of Visheve; [[Chaim Meir Hager]] in Oradea then Bnei Brak; Eliezer (''Damesek Eliezer'') of Vyzhnytsia / Tel Aviv; [[Boruch Hager]] of [[Siret]], founder of Seret-Vizhnitz.
  
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Reb Chaim Meir's sons-in-law include Rabbis [[Yidele Horowitz]], [[Yitzchok Yaakov Weiss]] (both were married to Reb Chaim Meir's daughter, Miriam),<ref>[https://www.hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=35390&st=&pgnum=435&hilite= Invitation written by Reb Yisroel Hager to the wedding of his granddaughter Miriam and Reb Yidele Horowitz] (in [[Hebrew]])</ref> and [[Yisrael Friedman (Pashkaner Rebbe)|Yisrael Friedman]] (married to Reb Chaim Meir's daughter, Tziporah. Their son is [[Hoshea Friedman]]).<ref>{{cite journal|last=Ehrlich|first=Aryeh|date=6 October 2014|title=Legacy of Many Threads|url=http://www.mishpacha.com/Browse/Article/4529/Legacy-of-Many-Threads|journal=[[Mishpacha]]|issue=530|access-date=21 October 2014}}</ref>
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=== [[Chaim Meir Hager]] (Imrei Chaim) ===
  
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===Moshe Yehoshua Hager===
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After the Holocaust he settled in Bnei Brak and rebuilt a full institutional net. He became a spiritual mentor of [[Agudat Yisrael]] in the [[Knesset]] period: government aid for Bnei Brak housing and schools in return for coalition votes — the opposite of Satmar’s refusal to sit in Zionist institutions. Died 1972. Sons: [[Moshe Yehoshua Hager]] (Bnei Brak) and [[Mordechai Hager]] (United States). Daughters’ marriages tied the court to [[Yidele Horowitz]], [[Yitzchok Yaakov Weiss]] (later Edah / Minchas Yitzchak) and [[Yisrael Friedman]] of Pashkan.
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Rabbi Moshe Yehoshua Hager, was the Vizhnitser Rebbe in Bnei Brak. He died on March 13, 2012, aged 95.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/16/nyregion/rabbi-moshe-y-hager-hasidic-leader-dies-at-95.html?_r=3 Rabbi Moshe Hager, a Hasidic Leader, Dies at 95 ]</ref> He had two sons and four daughters. His elder son is Rabbi [[Yisroel Hager (The second)|Yisroel]], named after his grandfather, the "Ahavas Yisroel"; his other son is Rabbi [[Menachem Mendel Hager|Menachem Mendel]], named after the founding Vizhnitzer Rebbe, author of ''Tzemach Tzaddik''. Rabbi Moshe Yehoshua's sons-in-law are famous rabbis. The eldest daughter married Rabbi [[David Twersky (Skverer Rebbe)|David Twersky]], the [[Skver (Hasidic dynasty)|Skverer]] Rebbe of [[New Square, New York|New Square]], New York. One daughter married Rabbi [[Yissachar Dov Rokeach (fifth Belzer rebbe)|Yissachar Dov Rokeach]], the [[Belz (Hasidic dynasty)|Belzer]] Rebbe from [[Jerusalem]]. One daughter married Rabbi [[Aaron Teitelbaum]], the [[Satmar (Hasidic dynasty)|Satmar]] Rebbe from [[Kiryas Joel]], New York. The youngest daughter married Rabbi Menachem Ernster, the [[rosh yeshiva]] of the Vizhnitz [[Yeshiva]] in Bnei Brak.<ref name="israelnationalnews">{{cite web|url=http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/153741|title=Vizhnitzer Rebbe Passes Away at 95|last=Benari|first=Elad|date=14 March 2012|access-date=19 March 2012|work=[[Arutz Sheva]]}} The head [[rabbi]]s, also known as ''Admorim'' ({{lang-he|אדמו"ר}}, which is the [[acronym]] for "אדונינו מורינו ורבינו" ''"Adoneinu Moreinu V'Rabeinu"'', "our master, our teacher, and our rabbi"), are located currently in [[Bnei Brak]] and [[Haifa]] in [[Israel]], and in [[Monsey, New York]]. Rabbi Yisroel Hager has inherited his father's community. He is known for his love and devotion to עם ישראל, just like his great grand father who he's named after. He has around 7,500 followers worldwide. He has three sons and four daughters; his oldest son, Rabbi Chaim Meir, leads a kehilla in [[Borough Park, Brooklyn, New York]]. His other two sons live in Bnei Brak; his oldest daughter married Rabbi Boruch Shamshon Hager, son of the Viznitzer Rebbe in [[Beit Shemesh]]; his second daughter married Rabbi Chaim Tzvi Meizlish, Rav of shikun Satmar in [[Bnei Brak]]; his third daughter is married to Reb Chaim Tzvi Teitelbaum from Beit Shemesh; and his youngest daughter is married to Rabbi Menachem Mendel Hager from Bnei Brak.
 
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</ref>
 
  
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===Mordechai Hager===
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=== [[Moshe Yehoshua Hager]] (Yeshuos Moshe) ===
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[[File:The Great Synagogue of Vizhnitz Beit Shemesh.jpg|thumb|The Great Synagogue of Vizhnitz [[Beit Shemesh]], with a new [[Holy Ark]]]]
 
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{{Main|Mordechai Hager}}
 
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Rabbi Mordechai Hager [[zt"l]], born in 1922, was the  Vizhnitzer Rebbe in [[Monsey, New York|Monsey]] until his passing in 2018.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://5tjt.com/vizhnitz-simcha-complications/ | title=Vizhnitz Simcha Complications | date=18 June 2015 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/Flash.aspx/235287|title=Second Vizhnitz Rebbe Falls Ill|publisher=[[Israel National News]]|date=20 March 2012|access-date=22 March 2012}}</ref> Following the death of his father [[Rabbi]] [[Chaim Meir Hager]] of [[Bnei Brak, Israel]], tens of thousands of  Vizhnitz hasidim followed him. At the time of his passing, he was the oldest hasidic rabbi in the world. He was known for his devotion to learning Torah: he studied 18 hours a day and asked his Chasidim to study at least two hours every day. He had about 30,000 followers internationally.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/16/obituaries/rabbi-mordechai-hager-dead-led-large-hasidic-sect.html|title=Rabbi Mordechai Hager, Leader of Large Hasidic Sect, Dies at 95|last=Berger|first=Joseph|date=2018-03-16|work=The New York Times|access-date=2018-03-23|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>
 
  
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Rabbi Mordechai died on March 16, 2018 (29 Adar 5778), at [[Mount Sinai Hospital (Manhattan)|Mount Sinai Hospital]].<ref>http://hamodia.com/2018/03/16/vizhnitzer-rebbe-harav-mordechai-hager/</ref> The funeral was held with the attendance of 100,000 mourners.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://westchester.news12.com/story/37744891/mourners-say-final-farewell-to-grand-rabbi-in-monsey | title=Mourners say final farewell to grand rabbi in Monsey }}</ref> He was buried in the Vishnitzer Cemetery in [[Monsey, New York|Monsey]], New York.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.theyeshivaworld.com/news/general/1491750/boruch-dayan-haemmes-levaya-of-vishnitzer-rebbe-of-monsey-zatzal.html | title=BORUCH DAYAN HA'EMMES: Levaya of Vishnitzer Rebbe of Monsey ZATZAL &#91;UPDATED 12:00PM&#93; | date=16 March 2018 }}</ref>            
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Vizhnitzer Rebbe in Bnei Brak; president of the [[Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah]] of Agudat Yisrael. Died 13 March 2012, aged 95.<ref name="NYTMoshe">New York Times, [https://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/16/nyregion/rabbi-moshe-y-hager-hasidic-leader-dies-at-95.html Rabbi Moshe Hager, a Hasidic Leader, Dies at 95], 16 March 2012.</ref> Sons: [[Yisroel Hager]] (inherited Shikun Vizhnitz, the large Bnei Brak court) and [[Menachem Mendel Hager]] (Merkaz / Ezra Street court). Daughters married [[David Twersky]] of [[Skver]] / [[New Square]]; [[Yissachar Dov Rokeach]] of [[Belz]] (Jerusalem); [[Aaron Teitelbaum]] of [[Satmar]] / [[Kiryas Joel]]; and [[Menachem Ernster]], rosh yeshiva in Bnei Brak. Those marriages are the main diplomatic links among the four largest American–Israeli Hasidic blocs.
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Rabbi Mordechai bore 14 children, 8 sons and 6 daughters. His sons and grandson serve as leaders of his followers  in the United States and internationally: Rabbi Yisroel  in [[Monsey, New York]]; Rabbi Mendel  in [[Kiamesha Lake, New York]]; and Rabbi Yitzchok Yochonon    in [[Williamsburg, Brooklyn]]. The other sons serve internationally: Rabbi Eliezer in [[Jerusalem, Israel]]; Rabbi Dovid in London;  Rabbi Aharon in Canada headquartered in [[Montreal, Quebec]], his youngest son,  Rabbi Buroch Shamshon, in [[Beit Shemesh]], Israel; and his grandson Rabbi Yakov Yosef, son of eldest son Rabbi Pinchus Shulem, in [[Boro Park]], Brooklyn.
 
  
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==UK==
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=== [[Mordechai Hager]] (Toras Mordechai) ===
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*[[Vishnitz Girls School]] | [[Wiznitz Cheder School]]
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Born 1922; American Vizhnitz from the 1950s; founded the village of [[Kaser]] in Ramapo / Monsey. Died 16 March 2018 at Mount Sinai Hospital, New York; funeral reported in the tens of thousands; buried in the Vizhnitz cemetery, Monsey.<ref name="NYTMordechai">Joseph Berger, [https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/16/obituaries/rabbi-mordechai-hager-dead-led-large-hasidic-sect.html Rabbi Mordechai Hager, Leader of Large Hasidic Sect, Dies at 95] ''The New York Times'', 16 March 2018.</ref> The NYT put American Vizhnitz at roughly 5,000 families. He left instruction that each surviving son take the title of rebbe in a different city.
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Sons and grandson now heading courts:
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* [[Yisroel Hager]] — Monsey / Kaser (principal American successor)
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* [[Menachem Mendel Hager]] — Kiamesha Lake (Gibbers), Catskills
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* [[Yitzchok Yochonon Hager]] — Williamsburg
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* [[Eliezer Zev Hager]] — Jerusalem / Lakewood / Borough Park circuit
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* [[Dovid Hager]] — London ([[Khal Imrei Chaim D'Chasidei Viznitz]])
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* [[Aharon Hager]] — Montreal
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* [[Boruch Shamshon Hager]] — [[Beit Shemesh]] (and Bnei Brak ties)
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* grandson [[Yaakov Yosef Hager]] — Borough Park (after [[Pinchas Shalom Hager]], d. 2015)
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=== Seret-Vizhnitz (Haifa) ===
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[[Boruch Hager]] of Siret (Mekor Baruch, d. 1964) built [[Ramat Vizhnitz]] (Mishkan Yisrael) in Haifa from the early 1950s as a Hasidic housing estate — “the mezuzah of Haifa.” Succeeded by Eliezer Hager then [[Yaakov Hager]]. About 700 families in the kiryah streets; Wodziński-era count c. 1,300 households for the court as a whole.
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== Geography ==
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=== United States ===
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* '''[[Kaser]] / Monsey, Rockland County''' — Mordechai’s village and cemetery; Yisroel of Monsey.
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* '''Kiamesha Lake''' — Mendel.
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* '''Williamsburg''' — Yitzchok Yochonon; historic Ahavas Yisrael / Toras Chaim hall from the 1950s.
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* '''Borough Park''' — Yaakov Yosef; also a son of Bnei Brak Yisroel (Chaim Meir) leads a kehilla there.
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* '''Lakewood''' — Eliezer circuit.
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Monsey Vizhnitz joined other Hasidic rebbes at the September 2026 White House meeting with [[Donald Trump]] (Vizhnitzer Rebbe of Monsey listed with Satmar, Bobov and Skver).
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=== United Kingdom ===
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London court of [[Dovid Hager]], [[Khal Imrei Chaim D'Chasidei Viznitz]], on the order of a few hundred families in Stamford Hill; also Manchester presence.
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{| class="wikitable sortable"
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|+ UK schools and charities
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! Name !! Number / URN !! Place !! Notes
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|-
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| [[Wiznitz Cheder School]] || URN 137809; [[Viznitz Limited]] charity 1143314 || 126b Stamford Hill, N16 6QT || Boys 3–11; proprietor Viznitz Limited; Ofsted inadequate in 2021 and 2024 cycles.<ref name="GIASWiz">Get Information About Schools, [https://get-information-schools.service.gov.uk/Establishments/Establishment/Details/137809 Wiznitz Cheder School].</ref>
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|-
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| [[Vishnitz Girls School]] || URN 138516; [[Vishnitz Girls School Ltd]] charity 1135285, co. 06919686 || 49 Amhurst Park and 85 Lordship Road, N16 || Girls 2–16; 474 on roll (2024 inspection); Ofsted requires improvement (July 2024).<ref name="OfstedVish">Ofsted, inspection of Vishnitz Girls School, 9–11 July 2024.</ref>
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|-
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| [[Bnos Margulis Viznitz Girls' School]] || — || London / listed in Haredi school inventories || Vizhnitz girls’ provision.
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|-
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| [[Talmud Torah Chaim Meirim Wiznitz School]] || — || Stamford Hill || Boys’ primary; Vizhnitz-run; inspected alongside other Hackney chadorim.
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|-
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| [[Friends of Wiznitz Limited]] || 255685; co. 00929964 || 94 Stamford Hill, N16 6XS || Grant-maker; stated operating areas include [[Israel]], the United States, Hackney and Haringey; expenditure on the order of £4.5 million in recent accounts; building used as a school.<ref name="FoW">Friends of Wiznitz Limited, Charity Commission 255685; directory summary of objects and geography.</ref>
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|}
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UK grants labelled “Israel” are not broken down between Green Line addresses and occupied territory.
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== United Kingdom ==
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British Vizhnitz is the London court of [[Dovid Hager]] ([[Khal Imrei Chaim D'Chasidei Viznitz]]), a son of [[Mordechai Hager]] of Monsey, with a smaller presence in Manchester / Salford. The court is Agudah-facing, not Satmar-facing. [[Friends of Wiznitz Limited]] (charity 255685, company 00929964, 94 Stamford Hill, N16 6XS) is the main UK grant vehicle; it lists operating areas including [[Israel]], the United States, Hackney and Haringey and has spent on the order of £4.5 million a year. Registers do not split grants between Green Line Israel and occupied territory.<ref name="FoW">Charity Commission, Friends of Wiznitz Limited 255685.</ref>
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Independent schools identified with Vizhnitz on the Powerbase inventory of Jewish schools in the UK:<ref name="PBSchools">[[Jewish Schools in the UK]]</ref>
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{| class="wikitable sortable"
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|+ Vizhnitz / Wiznitz / Vishnitz schools
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! School !! Local authority !! Intake !! Vehicle / trustees !! Notes
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|-
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| [[Vishnitz Girls School]] || Hackney || Girls, strictly Orthodox || [[Vishnitz Girls School Limited]] (charity 1135285). Trustees / directors listed (2011– ): [[Mordechai Steren]], [[Benzion Steiner]], [[Israel Zieg]] || 49 Amhurst Park and 85 Lordship Road, Stamford Hill. Historically associated with [[Agudat Yisrael]].
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|-
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| [[Wiznitz Cheder School]] || Hackney || Boys 3–11, strictly Orthodox || [[Viznitz Limited]] (company 07569016; charity 1143314). Directors / trustees: [[Mordechai Kahan]] (from 13 December 2016), [[Samuel Izak Stein]] (from 17 March 2011); former directors [[Michael Rosenberg]], [[Simon Weis]] || 126b Stamford Hill, N16 6QT; URN 137809; head [[Pesach Akiva Taub]]. Historically associated with Agudat Yisrael.<ref name="PBWizCheder">[[Wiznitz Cheder School]]</ref>
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|-
 +
| [[Talmud Torah Chaim Meirim Wiznitz School]] || Hackney || Boys, strictly Orthodox || Vizhnitz || Named for Chaim Meir (Imrei Chaim). Historically associated with Agudat Yisrael. Donor listed on the schools inventory: [[Gerald and Gail Ronson Family Foundation]].
 +
|-
 +
| [[Bnos Margulis Viznitz Girls' School]] || Salford || Girls, strictly Orthodox || Vizhnitz || Manchester / Salford girls’ school. Historically associated with Agudat Yisrael.
 +
|}
 +
 
 +
Stamford Hill is the London centre (chedarim and Vishnitz Girls). Salford holds the Margulis girls’ school. The four names above are the Vizhnitz entries on [[Jewish Schools in the UK]]; other Hackney chadorim are neighbouring courts, not Vizhnitz.
 +
 
 +
 
 +
=== Other UK Vizhnitz institutions ===
 +
 
 +
Besides the four schools, Charity Commission and company registers carry a cluster of Vizhnitz / Wiznitz / Viznitz vehicles, almost all in Hackney / Stamford Hill / Clapton. Several name [[Israel]] as an operating area; none publish a Green Line versus occupied-territory split.
 +
 
 +
{| class="wikitable sortable"
 +
|+ Congregations, kollels, gemachs and grant vehicles
 +
! Name !! Number !! Address (register) !! Role
 +
|-
 +
| [[Khal Imrei Chaim D'Chasidei Viznitz]] || congregation (not itself a separate Commission number in all listings) || Stamford Hill || London court of [[Dovid Hager]]
 +
|-
 +
| [[Friends of Wiznitz Limited]] || 255685; co. 00929964 || First Floor, 94 Stamford Hill, N16 6XS || Largest UK vehicle (1968). Grants and a school building. Operates Hackney, Haringey, [[Israel]], United States. Income / spend on the order of £4.5–4.7 million (year to March 2025).<ref name="FoW2">Charity Commission, Friends of Wiznitz Limited 255685.</ref>
 +
|-
 +
| [[Viznitz Limited]] || charity 1143314; co. 07569016 || 126b Stamford Hill, N16 6QT || Proprietor of [[Wiznitz Cheder School]]. Income c. £0.85 million (year to March 2024).
 +
|-
 +
| [[Vishnitz Girls School Limited]] || charity 1135285; co. 06919686 || 49 Amhurst Park / 115 Craven Park Road || Girls’ school company.
 +
|-
 +
| [[Viznitz Institutions Trust]] || 1073284 || 8 Jessam Avenue (register) || Hardship grants and the “Talmudical College of Viznitz in London.” Operates Hackney and [[Israel]]. Income £663,506 / spend £697,086 (year to 5 May 2025).
 +
|-
 +
| [[The Viznitz (Keren Nitzchi) Foundation]] || 326581 || 23 Overlea Road, E5 9BG || Applies funds in the UK and abroad “in accordance with … the wishes of the Grand Rabbi of Viznitz.” Worldwide objects. Income £200,073 (year to 31 March 2025).
 +
|-
 +
| [[Kollel Imrei Chaim Wiznitz Trust]] || 1122005 || Flat 3, The Gardens, Clapton Common, E5 9AZ || Supports the Imrei Chaim kollel. Trustees include [[Leibish Hager]] (chair) and [[Shaina Rochel Hager]]. Hackney.
 +
|-
 +
| [[Kollel Viznitz London]] || 1166611 || 67 Watermint Quay, Craven Walk, N16 6DN || Scholarships for the institute of that name. Hackney and Haringey. Small recent spend.
 +
|-
 +
| [[Kupath Gemach Trust]] || 1110323 || 171 Kyverdale Road, N16 6PS || Formerly [[Kupath Gemach Chaim Bechesed Viznitz Trust]]. Gemach / grants; London, [[Israel]], United States. Spend on the order of £1 million.
 +
|-
 +
| [[Keren Yedidei Beis Viznitz Ltd]] || 1195033 || 30 Plevna Crescent, N15 6DN || Grants to Orthodox individuals. Trustee [[Nachman Taub]] also listed at [[British Friends of Chatzer Hakodesh Viznitz]].
 +
|-
 +
| [[Ezer Viznitz Foundation]] || 1161881 || London || Aid to families in distress; register lists work in the United States, Belgium and [[Israel]]. Large recent income (NGO Explorer: c. £4.7 million year to March 2025).
 +
|}
 +
 
 +
The school companies sit inside this same street grid. Friends of Wiznitz, Viznitz Institutions Trust, Kupath Gemach and Ezer Viznitz are the ones that explicitly list Israel on the Commission “where it operates” field.
 +
== Israel and occupied territory ==
 +
 
 +
'''Inside the Green Line'''
 +
 
 +
* '''Kiryat / Shikun Vizhnitz, [[Bnei Brak]]''' — main Israeli court (Yisroel son of Moshe Yehoshua); thousands of families; yeshiva; Agudah housing politics.
 +
* '''Ezra Street / Merkaz Chasidei Vizhnitz, Bnei Brak''' — Menachem Mendel son of Moshe Yehoshua.
 +
* '''[[Ramat Vizhnitz]], Haifa''' — Seret-Vizhnitz kiryah (Yaakov Hager); Green Line Israel.
 +
* '''[[Beit Shemesh]]''' — Great Synagogue of Vizhnitz; Boruch Shamshon (Monsey line); Dzikov-Vizhnitz also listed there.
 +
* '''Tel Aviv''' — historic Damesek Eliezer yeshiva (1940s), later absorbed into Bnei Brak.
 +
 
 +
'''Over the Green Line / East Jerusalem'''
 +
 
 +
Vizhnitz does not brand a settlement city the way [[Belz]] brands Kiryat Sanz or Satmar brands Shikun Satmar. Haredi families from Agudah courts, including Vizhnitz, live in the large settlement towns because that is where cheap Haredi housing was built:
 +
 
 +
* '''[[Beitar Illit]]''' and '''[[Modiin Illit]]''' ([[Kiryat Sefer]]) — West Bank Haredi cities, illegal under international law; mixed Litvish / Hasidic / Shas population; UTJ vote banks. Vizhnitz is an Agudah court, so its voters and some households are in that market. It is not a Vizhnitz municipal project.
 +
* '''[[Ramot]] / Visheve-Vizhnitz''' — the Visheve (Vişeu) branch was reconstituted in Ramot, Jerusalem. Large parts of Ramot were built after 1967 over the Green Line on land taken from surrounding Palestinian villages. A Visheve centre there is therefore an East Jerusalem / occupied-side footprint even when advertised as “Jerusalem.”
 +
* '''Municipal East Jerusalem''' — individual families and visits; no Vizhnitz Old City yeshiva comparable to [[Shuvu Banim]].
 +
 
 +
[[Friends of Wiznitz Limited]] and parallel US “friends of” vehicles send money to Israeli institutions. Public registers say Israel; they do not itemise Beitar, Modiin Illit or Ramot versus Bnei Brak and Haifa.
 +
 
 +
== Zionism, the army and Agudah ==
 +
 
 +
Vizhnitz is '''non-Zionist in theology and Zionist-adjacent in machinery'''. Chaim Meir and Moshe Yehoshua used Agudah seats to extract budgets for Bnei Brak. That is the Hungarian–Galician Haredi bargain Satmar denounced as serving the golden calf. Sons are not sent to the IDF. After 7 October 2023, Yisroel Hager of Bnei Brak added a Gefner-derived blessing for Jews in battle — no mention of the state or the army by name, dropped the following week.<ref name="JPostPrayer" /> That is closer to Bobov’s “non-confrontational, non-Zionist” Israeli stance than to Satmar’s ''Vayoel Moshe'' or to Religious Zionism.
 +
 
 +
== Relations with other groups ==
 +
 
 +
* '''[[Agudat Yisrael]] / [[United Torah Judaism]] / [[Degel HaTorah]]''' — home camp. Moetzes seat; coalition housing; shared draft-exemption politics with Lithuanian yeshivas.
 +
* '''[[Satmar]]''' — marriage tie ([[Aaron Teitelbaum]] married a daughter of Moshe Yehoshua) and Williamsburg street proximity; opposite Zionism doctrine. Vizhnitz sits in the UJO Williamsburg endorsement lists as a partner court, not as a Satmar clone.
 +
* '''[[Belz]]''' — marriage tie ([[Yissachar Dov Rokeach]]); both Agudah Hasidic courts in Jerusalem / Bnei Brak housing politics.
 +
* '''[[Skver]]''' — marriage tie ([[David Twersky]]); Monsey / New Square upstate neighbours; joint US electoral brokerage.
 +
* '''[[Chabad-Lubavitch]]''' — not a peer; different outreach model; Ramat Vizhnitz Haifa is a closed kiryah, not a shlichus town.
 +
* '''Religious Zionism / [[IDF]] rabbinate''' — not allies; the 2023 prayer was read as news precisely because Vizhnitz does not say the state prayer.
 +
* '''[[Neturei Karta]] / Edah hard line''' — not Vizhnitz policy. A daughter of Chaim Meir married [[Yitzchok Yaakov Weiss]], later of the Edah, which is a family fact, not Edah membership of the Bnei Brak court.
 +
* '''Seret-Vizhnitz, Visheve, Kosov, Dzikov-Vizhnitz''' — same Hager trunk; separate rebbes.
 +
 
 +
== Institutions ==
 +
 
 +
Yeshivas and girls’ schools under local rebbes in Bnei Brak, Haifa, Beit Shemesh, Monsey, Williamsburg, Borough Park, London and Montreal. See [[Vishnitz/Wiznitz non profits in the US]] and [[Friends of Wiznitz Limited]] (UK).
  
−
==Resources==
 
−
*https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/grand-rabbi-in-israel-pandemic-is-from-god-and-has-nothing-to-do-with-nature/
 
 
== See also ==
 
== See also ==
 +
 
* [[Vyzhnytsia]]
 
* [[Vyzhnytsia]]
 
* [[Hasidic dynasties]]
 
* [[Hasidic dynasties]]
 +
* [[Agudat Yisrael]]
 +
* [[Satmar (Hasidic dynasty)]]
 +
* [[Belz (Hasidic dynasty)]]
 +
* [[Skver (Hasidic dynasty)]]
 +
* [[Beitar Illit]]
 +
* [[Kaser, New York]]
 +
 +
== External links ==
 +
 +
* [https://www.jpost.com/judaism/article-777143 Jerusalem Post on the 2023 prayer]
 +
* [https://encyclopedia.yivo.org/article.aspx/Kosov-Vizhnits_Hasidic_Dynasty YIVO: Kosov–Vizhnitz]
  
−
* [https://books.google.com/books?id=tumlOiOZvSUC&pg=PA1405 The Encyclopedia of Jewish Life Before and During the Holocaust. Page 1405]
+
== Resources ==
  
−
==External links==
+
* [https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/grand-rabbi-in-israel-pandemic-is-from-god-and-has-nothing-to-do-with-nature/ Jewish News: Vizhnitz rebbe on the pandemic]
 +
* Encyclopedia of Jewish Life Before and During the Holocaust, p. 1405
  
−
* [http://hasidicnews.com/Viznitz.shtml The Two Vizhnitz (Rabbis)]
+
== Notes ==
−
* [http://www.wiznitz.com/ Rav Mendel Hager - The Av Beis Din - exclusive website]
 
−
* [http://www.rebbeclips.com/search/label/seret%20viznitz Videos of the Seret Viznitz Rebbe ztz"l]
 
  
−
==See also==
+
<references />
  
−
*[[Vishnitz/Wiznitz non profits in the US]]
+
[[Category:Israel]]
−
== References ==
+
[[Category:Zionist movement]]
−
<references/>
+
[[Category:Zionism in the United Kingdom]]
 +
[[Category:Anti-Zionism]]
 +
[[Category:Yeshivas in the West Bank]]

Revision as of 20:28, 14 September 2026

Hasidic dynasty from Vyzhnytsia, Bukovina; Agudah-aligned courts in Bnei Brak, Haifa, Monsey / Kaser, Beit Shemesh and London


-
Vizhnitz
Founded 1854–c. 1860s Vyzhnytsia (Vizhnitz), Bukovina
Founder Menachem Mendel Hager (1830–1884)
Leader Rebbe (Bnei Brak, Shikun Vizhnitz) Yisroel Hager (son of Moshe Yehoshua Hager)
Headquarters Kiryat Vizhnitz, Bnei Brak; Kaser, New York; Ramat Vizhnitz, Haifa
Type Hasidic court (Hager family)

Vizhnitz (also Viznitz, Wiznitz; Yiddish: ויז׳ניץ / וויזשניץ) is a Hasidic dynasty founded by Menachem Mendel Hager in Vyzhnytsia, Bukovina (now Ukraine). Followers are Vizhnitzer Hasidim. After the Holocaust the main reconstitution was in Bnei Brak under Chaim Meir Hager (Imrei Chaim). The court then split geographically: Bnei Brak under Moshe Yehoshua Hager (Yeshuos Moshe, d. 2012) and Monsey / Kaser, New York under his brother Mordechai Hager (Toras Mordechai, d. 2018). A parallel Seret-Vizhnitz court occupies Ramat Vizhnitz in Haifa.

Unlike Satmar, Vizhnitz sits inside Agudat Yisrael / United Torah Judaism: it takes coalition money for housing and schools, fields rebbes on the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah, and does not treat the State of Israel as heresy. Sons do not serve in the IDF as a communal norm. After the 7 October 2023 attacks the Bnei Brak rebbe Yisroel Hager recited a one-off prayer for Jews “who stand in battle,” not the official IDF prayer and not a standing liturgy.[1]

Marcin Wodziński’s mid-2010s telephone-book counts (Historical Atlas of Hasidism, 2018) put the Bnei Brak Shikun court at about 5,000 households, Monsey Vizhnitz about 2,800–3,500, Seret-Vizhnitz Haifa about 1,300, and the smaller Bnei Brak “Merkaz” court of Menachem Mendel Hager (son of Moshe Yehoshua) in the hundreds to about 1,000.

History

Menachem Mendel Hager (Tzemach Tzaddik)

Born 17 May 1830 in Kosiv, son of Chaim Hager of Kosov and son-in-law of Israel Friedman of Ruzhyn. Appointed rebbe at 24, he moved to nearby Vyzhnytsia. Known for charity, prayer and attachment to Eretz Yisrael. Died 18 October 1884; buried in Vyzhnytsia. Torah collected as Tzemach Tzaddik. Succeeded by his son Boruch Hager. A son-in-law was a son of Yehoshua Rokeach of Belz.[2]

Boruch Hager (Imrei Boruch)

Born 1845; named after Boruch of Medzhybizh at the request of his grandfather of Ruzhin. Rebbe from 1885 until his death in 1892. Eight sons became rebbes in Vyzhnytsia, Ottynia, Suceava, Horodenka, Storozhynets, Borsa, Zelishtshik and elsewhere — the origin of the later Satmar-era map of small Hager towns. Imrei Boruch was published by a son-in-law.

Yisroel Hager (Ahavas Yisrael)

Born 20 August 1860; married a daughter of Meir Horowitz of Dzikov. Rebbe in Vyzhnytsia from 1893; built Talmud Torahs and a yeshiva headed by his son Menachem Mendel. In the First World War the court moved to Grosswardein (Oradea). He died there on 2 June 1936.[3] Remains were reburied in Zichron Meir, Bnei Brak, in 1949. Four sons became rebbes: Menachem Mendel of Visheve; Chaim Meir Hager in Oradea then Bnei Brak; Eliezer (Damesek Eliezer) of Vyzhnytsia / Tel Aviv; Boruch Hager of Siret, founder of Seret-Vizhnitz.

Chaim Meir Hager (Imrei Chaim)

After the Holocaust he settled in Bnei Brak and rebuilt a full institutional net. He became a spiritual mentor of Agudat Yisrael in the Knesset period: government aid for Bnei Brak housing and schools in return for coalition votes — the opposite of Satmar’s refusal to sit in Zionist institutions. Died 1972. Sons: Moshe Yehoshua Hager (Bnei Brak) and Mordechai Hager (United States). Daughters’ marriages tied the court to Yidele Horowitz, Yitzchok Yaakov Weiss (later Edah / Minchas Yitzchak) and Yisrael Friedman of Pashkan.

Moshe Yehoshua Hager (Yeshuos Moshe)

Vizhnitzer Rebbe in Bnei Brak; president of the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah of Agudat Yisrael. Died 13 March 2012, aged 95.[4] Sons: Yisroel Hager (inherited Shikun Vizhnitz, the large Bnei Brak court) and Menachem Mendel Hager (Merkaz / Ezra Street court). Daughters married David Twersky of Skver / New Square; Yissachar Dov Rokeach of Belz (Jerusalem); Aaron Teitelbaum of Satmar / Kiryas Joel; and Menachem Ernster, rosh yeshiva in Bnei Brak. Those marriages are the main diplomatic links among the four largest American–Israeli Hasidic blocs.

Mordechai Hager (Toras Mordechai)

Born 1922; American Vizhnitz from the 1950s; founded the village of Kaser in Ramapo / Monsey. Died 16 March 2018 at Mount Sinai Hospital, New York; funeral reported in the tens of thousands; buried in the Vizhnitz cemetery, Monsey.[5] The NYT put American Vizhnitz at roughly 5,000 families. He left instruction that each surviving son take the title of rebbe in a different city.

Sons and grandson now heading courts:

Seret-Vizhnitz (Haifa)

Boruch Hager of Siret (Mekor Baruch, d. 1964) built Ramat Vizhnitz (Mishkan Yisrael) in Haifa from the early 1950s as a Hasidic housing estate — “the mezuzah of Haifa.” Succeeded by Eliezer Hager then Yaakov Hager. About 700 families in the kiryah streets; Wodziński-era count c. 1,300 households for the court as a whole.

Geography

United States

  • Kaser / Monsey, Rockland County — Mordechai’s village and cemetery; Yisroel of Monsey.
  • Kiamesha Lake — Mendel.
  • Williamsburg — Yitzchok Yochonon; historic Ahavas Yisrael / Toras Chaim hall from the 1950s.
  • Borough Park — Yaakov Yosef; also a son of Bnei Brak Yisroel (Chaim Meir) leads a kehilla there.
  • Lakewood — Eliezer circuit.

Monsey Vizhnitz joined other Hasidic rebbes at the September 2026 White House meeting with Donald Trump (Vizhnitzer Rebbe of Monsey listed with Satmar, Bobov and Skver).

United Kingdom

London court of Dovid Hager, Khal Imrei Chaim D'Chasidei Viznitz, on the order of a few hundred families in Stamford Hill; also Manchester presence.

UK schools and charities
Name Number / URN Place Notes
Wiznitz Cheder School URN 137809; Viznitz Limited charity 1143314 126b Stamford Hill, N16 6QT Boys 3–11; proprietor Viznitz Limited; Ofsted inadequate in 2021 and 2024 cycles.[6]
Vishnitz Girls School URN 138516; Vishnitz Girls School Ltd charity 1135285, co. 06919686 49 Amhurst Park and 85 Lordship Road, N16 Girls 2–16; 474 on roll (2024 inspection); Ofsted requires improvement (July 2024).[7]
Bnos Margulis Viznitz Girls' School — London / listed in Haredi school inventories Vizhnitz girls’ provision.
Talmud Torah Chaim Meirim Wiznitz School — Stamford Hill Boys’ primary; Vizhnitz-run; inspected alongside other Hackney chadorim.
Friends of Wiznitz Limited 255685; co. 00929964 94 Stamford Hill, N16 6XS Grant-maker; stated operating areas include Israel, the United States, Hackney and Haringey; expenditure on the order of £4.5 million in recent accounts; building used as a school.[8]

UK grants labelled “Israel” are not broken down between Green Line addresses and occupied territory.

United Kingdom

British Vizhnitz is the London court of Dovid Hager (Khal Imrei Chaim D'Chasidei Viznitz), a son of Mordechai Hager of Monsey, with a smaller presence in Manchester / Salford. The court is Agudah-facing, not Satmar-facing. Friends of Wiznitz Limited (charity 255685, company 00929964, 94 Stamford Hill, N16 6XS) is the main UK grant vehicle; it lists operating areas including Israel, the United States, Hackney and Haringey and has spent on the order of £4.5 million a year. Registers do not split grants between Green Line Israel and occupied territory.[8]

Independent schools identified with Vizhnitz on the Powerbase inventory of Jewish schools in the UK:[9]

Vizhnitz / Wiznitz / Vishnitz schools
School Local authority Intake Vehicle / trustees Notes
Vishnitz Girls School Hackney Girls, strictly Orthodox Vishnitz Girls School Limited (charity 1135285). Trustees / directors listed (2011– ): Mordechai Steren, Benzion Steiner, Israel Zieg 49 Amhurst Park and 85 Lordship Road, Stamford Hill. Historically associated with Agudat Yisrael.
Wiznitz Cheder School Hackney Boys 3–11, strictly Orthodox Viznitz Limited (company 07569016; charity 1143314). Directors / trustees: Mordechai Kahan (from 13 December 2016), Samuel Izak Stein (from 17 March 2011); former directors Michael Rosenberg, Simon Weis 126b Stamford Hill, N16 6QT; URN 137809; head Pesach Akiva Taub. Historically associated with Agudat Yisrael.[10]
Talmud Torah Chaim Meirim Wiznitz School Hackney Boys, strictly Orthodox Vizhnitz Named for Chaim Meir (Imrei Chaim). Historically associated with Agudat Yisrael. Donor listed on the schools inventory: Gerald and Gail Ronson Family Foundation.
Bnos Margulis Viznitz Girls' School Salford Girls, strictly Orthodox Vizhnitz Manchester / Salford girls’ school. Historically associated with Agudat Yisrael.

Stamford Hill is the London centre (chedarim and Vishnitz Girls). Salford holds the Margulis girls’ school. The four names above are the Vizhnitz entries on Jewish Schools in the UK; other Hackney chadorim are neighbouring courts, not Vizhnitz.


Other UK Vizhnitz institutions

Besides the four schools, Charity Commission and company registers carry a cluster of Vizhnitz / Wiznitz / Viznitz vehicles, almost all in Hackney / Stamford Hill / Clapton. Several name Israel as an operating area; none publish a Green Line versus occupied-territory split.

Congregations, kollels, gemachs and grant vehicles
Name Number Address (register) Role
Khal Imrei Chaim D'Chasidei Viznitz congregation (not itself a separate Commission number in all listings) Stamford Hill London court of Dovid Hager
Friends of Wiznitz Limited 255685; co. 00929964 First Floor, 94 Stamford Hill, N16 6XS Largest UK vehicle (1968). Grants and a school building. Operates Hackney, Haringey, Israel, United States. Income / spend on the order of £4.5–4.7 million (year to March 2025).[11]
Viznitz Limited charity 1143314; co. 07569016 126b Stamford Hill, N16 6QT Proprietor of Wiznitz Cheder School. Income c. £0.85 million (year to March 2024).
Vishnitz Girls School Limited charity 1135285; co. 06919686 49 Amhurst Park / 115 Craven Park Road Girls’ school company.
Viznitz Institutions Trust 1073284 8 Jessam Avenue (register) Hardship grants and the “Talmudical College of Viznitz in London.” Operates Hackney and Israel. Income £663,506 / spend £697,086 (year to 5 May 2025).
The Viznitz (Keren Nitzchi) Foundation 326581 23 Overlea Road, E5 9BG Applies funds in the UK and abroad “in accordance with … the wishes of the Grand Rabbi of Viznitz.” Worldwide objects. Income £200,073 (year to 31 March 2025).
Kollel Imrei Chaim Wiznitz Trust 1122005 Flat 3, The Gardens, Clapton Common, E5 9AZ Supports the Imrei Chaim kollel. Trustees include Leibish Hager (chair) and Shaina Rochel Hager. Hackney.
Kollel Viznitz London 1166611 67 Watermint Quay, Craven Walk, N16 6DN Scholarships for the institute of that name. Hackney and Haringey. Small recent spend.
Kupath Gemach Trust 1110323 171 Kyverdale Road, N16 6PS Formerly Kupath Gemach Chaim Bechesed Viznitz Trust. Gemach / grants; London, Israel, United States. Spend on the order of £1 million.
Keren Yedidei Beis Viznitz Ltd 1195033 30 Plevna Crescent, N15 6DN Grants to Orthodox individuals. Trustee Nachman Taub also listed at British Friends of Chatzer Hakodesh Viznitz.
Ezer Viznitz Foundation 1161881 London Aid to families in distress; register lists work in the United States, Belgium and Israel. Large recent income (NGO Explorer: c. £4.7 million year to March 2025).

The school companies sit inside this same street grid. Friends of Wiznitz, Viznitz Institutions Trust, Kupath Gemach and Ezer Viznitz are the ones that explicitly list Israel on the Commission “where it operates” field.

Israel and occupied territory

Inside the Green Line

  • Kiryat / Shikun Vizhnitz, Bnei Brak — main Israeli court (Yisroel son of Moshe Yehoshua); thousands of families; yeshiva; Agudah housing politics.
  • Ezra Street / Merkaz Chasidei Vizhnitz, Bnei Brak — Menachem Mendel son of Moshe Yehoshua.
  • Ramat Vizhnitz, Haifa — Seret-Vizhnitz kiryah (Yaakov Hager); Green Line Israel.
  • Beit Shemesh — Great Synagogue of Vizhnitz; Boruch Shamshon (Monsey line); Dzikov-Vizhnitz also listed there.
  • Tel Aviv — historic Damesek Eliezer yeshiva (1940s), later absorbed into Bnei Brak.

Over the Green Line / East Jerusalem

Vizhnitz does not brand a settlement city the way Belz brands Kiryat Sanz or Satmar brands Shikun Satmar. Haredi families from Agudah courts, including Vizhnitz, live in the large settlement towns because that is where cheap Haredi housing was built:

  • Beitar Illit and Modiin Illit (Kiryat Sefer) — West Bank Haredi cities, illegal under international law; mixed Litvish / Hasidic / Shas population; UTJ vote banks. Vizhnitz is an Agudah court, so its voters and some households are in that market. It is not a Vizhnitz municipal project.
  • Ramot / Visheve-Vizhnitz — the Visheve (Vişeu) branch was reconstituted in Ramot, Jerusalem. Large parts of Ramot were built after 1967 over the Green Line on land taken from surrounding Palestinian villages. A Visheve centre there is therefore an East Jerusalem / occupied-side footprint even when advertised as “Jerusalem.”
  • Municipal East Jerusalem — individual families and visits; no Vizhnitz Old City yeshiva comparable to Shuvu Banim.

Friends of Wiznitz Limited and parallel US “friends of” vehicles send money to Israeli institutions. Public registers say Israel; they do not itemise Beitar, Modiin Illit or Ramot versus Bnei Brak and Haifa.

Zionism, the army and Agudah

Vizhnitz is non-Zionist in theology and Zionist-adjacent in machinery. Chaim Meir and Moshe Yehoshua used Agudah seats to extract budgets for Bnei Brak. That is the Hungarian–Galician Haredi bargain Satmar denounced as serving the golden calf. Sons are not sent to the IDF. After 7 October 2023, Yisroel Hager of Bnei Brak added a Gefner-derived blessing for Jews in battle — no mention of the state or the army by name, dropped the following week.[1] That is closer to Bobov’s “non-confrontational, non-Zionist” Israeli stance than to Satmar’s Vayoel Moshe or to Religious Zionism.

Relations with other groups

  • Agudat Yisrael / United Torah Judaism / Degel HaTorah — home camp. Moetzes seat; coalition housing; shared draft-exemption politics with Lithuanian yeshivas.
  • Satmar — marriage tie (Aaron Teitelbaum married a daughter of Moshe Yehoshua) and Williamsburg street proximity; opposite Zionism doctrine. Vizhnitz sits in the UJO Williamsburg endorsement lists as a partner court, not as a Satmar clone.
  • Belz — marriage tie (Yissachar Dov Rokeach); both Agudah Hasidic courts in Jerusalem / Bnei Brak housing politics.
  • Skver — marriage tie (David Twersky); Monsey / New Square upstate neighbours; joint US electoral brokerage.
  • Chabad-Lubavitch — not a peer; different outreach model; Ramat Vizhnitz Haifa is a closed kiryah, not a shlichus town.
  • Religious Zionism / IDF rabbinate — not allies; the 2023 prayer was read as news precisely because Vizhnitz does not say the state prayer.
  • Neturei Karta / Edah hard line — not Vizhnitz policy. A daughter of Chaim Meir married Yitzchok Yaakov Weiss, later of the Edah, which is a family fact, not Edah membership of the Bnei Brak court.
  • Seret-Vizhnitz, Visheve, Kosov, Dzikov-Vizhnitz — same Hager trunk; separate rebbes.

Institutions

Yeshivas and girls’ schools under local rebbes in Bnei Brak, Haifa, Beit Shemesh, Monsey, Williamsburg, Borough Park, London and Montreal. See Vishnitz/Wiznitz non profits in the US and Friends of Wiznitz Limited (UK).

See also

External links

Resources

Notes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Levi Cooper, Israel-Hamas war: A Hassidic rebbe's prayer for soldiers Jerusalem Post, 8 December 2023.
  2. ↑ Gad Sagiv, Kosov-Vizhnits Hasidic Dynasty YIVO Encyclopedia.
  3. ↑ Der Israelit, 4 June 1936, p. 13.
  4. ↑ New York Times, Rabbi Moshe Hager, a Hasidic Leader, Dies at 95, 16 March 2012.
  5. ↑ Joseph Berger, Rabbi Mordechai Hager, Leader of Large Hasidic Sect, Dies at 95 The New York Times, 16 March 2018.
  6. ↑ Get Information About Schools, Wiznitz Cheder School.
  7. ↑ Ofsted, inspection of Vishnitz Girls School, 9–11 July 2024.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Friends of Wiznitz Limited, Charity Commission 255685; directory summary of objects and geography. Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "FoW" defined multiple times with different content
  9. ↑ Jewish Schools in the UK
  10. ↑ Wiznitz Cheder School
  11. ↑ Charity Commission, Friends of Wiznitz Limited 255685.
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