Difference between revisions of "Breslov (Hasidic dynasty)"
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* Zvi Aryeh Rosenfeld (1922–1978) brought Breslov to the United States and began English translation.<ref name="Otzar" /> | * Zvi Aryeh Rosenfeld (1922–1978) brought Breslov to the United States and began English translation.<ref name="Otzar" /> | ||
* Aryeh Kaplan's English translation appeared in 1973, and in 1979 Chaim Kramer founded the Breslov Research Institute.<ref name="Otzar" /> | * Aryeh Kaplan's English translation appeared in 1973, and in 1979 Chaim Kramer founded the Breslov Research Institute.<ref name="Otzar" /> | ||
| + | |||
| + | According to David Biale and his co-authors, the small Bratslav centre in the Old City of Jerusalem broke up when the Jordanian Legion captured the area, and its Hasidim moved to other parts of Jerusalem, to Bnei Brak and to Tel Aviv. They later built a centre in Jerusalem's [[Mea Shearim]] district, which became the focus for the more conservative Bratslav Hasidim and remained small in the years after the 1948 war. A second community formed in Safed around [[Gedaliah Aharon Koenig]] (1921–1980), who had become a Chabad Hasid in his teens before coming under the influence of Avraham Sternhartz, a great-grandson of Nathan Sternhartz; the Safed community is often regarded as quieter and more given to the deep study of Nachman's teachings.<ref name="BialeBook735" /> | ||
The historian David Biale says Breslov remained "very, very small" until the fall of Communism. Since then it "has taken off" and become "a missionizing movement".<ref name="Biale" /> | The historian David Biale says Breslov remained "very, very small" until the fall of Communism. Since then it "has taken off" and become "a missionizing movement".<ref name="Biale" /> | ||
== Size and following == | == Size and following == | ||
| − | There is no membership count. The YIVO Encyclopedia describes Breslov today as small and fragmented, with no living rebbe, but popular among secular Jews since the late 20th century.<ref name="YIVOBratslav" /> The Israeli writer Shlomi Rosenfeld gives a popular estimate of "100,000 or more". He describes many followers as ''baalei teshuvah'', Ashkenazi or Mizrahi, in communities that each have their own rebbe.<ref name="Rosenfeld" /> Biale says many Uman pilgrims "are not really Bratslav" but "fellow travelers".<ref name="Biale" /> | + | There is no membership count. The YIVO Encyclopedia describes Breslov today as small and fragmented, with no living rebbe, but popular among secular Jews since the late 20th century.<ref name="YIVOBratslav" /> The Israeli writer Shlomi Rosenfeld gives a popular estimate of "100,000 or more". He describes many followers as ''baalei teshuvah'', Ashkenazi or Mizrahi, in communities that each have their own rebbe.<ref name="Rosenfeld" /> Biale says many Uman pilgrims "are not really Bratslav" but "fellow travelers".<ref name="Biale" /> His history of Hasidism, written with seven co-authors, says the Uman gathering draws "fellow-travelers and curiosity seekers" as well as Bratslav Hasidim.<ref name="BialeBook739" /> |
An [[Israel Democracy Institute]] survey from July and August 2026 found that 8 per cent of adult Jewish Israelis had visited Nachman's grave at least once. The figure was 13 per cent among Mizrahi Jews and 5 per cent among Ashkenazi Jews.<ref name="RISU2026" /> | An [[Israel Democracy Institute]] survey from July and August 2026 found that 8 per cent of adult Jewish Israelis had visited Nachman's grave at least once. The figure was 13 per cent among Mizrahi Jews and 5 per cent among Ashkenazi Jews.<ref name="RISU2026" /> | ||
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| Shuvu Banim || Eliezer Berland || Rehov Hebron 32 (Maaleh Haldia), Old City, Jerusalem, P.O.B. 57251, Jerusalem 9157102; US office 551 East 3rd Street, Brooklyn, New York 11218 || Yeshiva and community; Berland has two criminal convictions (see [[#Controversies|Controversies]]).<ref name="ShuvuSite" /><ref name="JPost2021" /> | | Shuvu Banim || Eliezer Berland || Rehov Hebron 32 (Maaleh Haldia), Old City, Jerusalem, P.O.B. 57251, Jerusalem 9157102; US office 551 East 3rd Street, Brooklyn, New York 11218 || Yeshiva and community; Berland has two criminal convictions (see [[#Controversies|Controversies]]).<ref name="ShuvuSite" /><ref name="JPost2021" /> | ||
|- | |- | ||
| − | | Chut Shel Chessed / Breslev.co.il || Shalom Arush || Jerusalem || Breslev.co.il calls Arush head of the Chut Shel Chessed institutions.<ref name="BreslevDonate" /> | + | | Chut Shel Chessed / Breslev.co.il || Shalom Arush || Jerusalem || Breslev.co.il calls Arush head of the Chut Shel Chessed institutions.<ref name="BreslevDonate" /> Biale and his co-authors name him as a former student of Berland.<ref name="BialeBook738" /> |
|- | |- | ||
| Na Nach || Followers of Israel Ber Odesser (1888–1994) || Israel || One of several movements to come out of Breslov; followers regard Odesser as the Messiah.<ref name="Folk2018" /> | | Na Nach || Followers of Israel Ber Odesser (1888–1994) || Israel || One of several movements to come out of Breslov; followers regard Odesser as the Messiah.<ref name="Folk2018" /> | ||
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In December 2010 ''Haaretz'' reported that Berland had "reinstated himself" at the head of the community. He said he had been "exploited for years by the powerful court built around him by his son and grandson".<ref name="Haaretz2010" /> | In December 2010 ''Haaretz'' reported that Berland had "reinstated himself" at the head of the community. He said he had been "exploited for years by the powerful court built around him by his son and grandson".<ref name="Haaretz2010" /> | ||
| + | |||
| + | According to Biale and his co-authors, Berland (born 1937) first tried to attract students from Lithuanian yeshivot, but had most success with secular young people, some of them with links to the criminal underworld.<ref name="BialeBook737" /> They write that he adopted "a peculiar concoction of political ideologies, blending the radical anti-Zionism of Satmar, which usually demands political and military pacifism, with a sharply militant anti-Arabism, of a spirit close to that of the far-right in Israel".<ref name="BialeBook737" /> Before his downfall he drew many students, some of whom, such as [[Shalom Arush]] and [[Ofer Erez]], became Bratslav leaders in their own right.<ref name="BialeBook738" /> | ||
=== Na Nach === | === Na Nach === | ||
Na Nach followers regard Israel Ber Odesser (1888–1994) as the Messiah, in a line of reincarnations of Nachman. The religion scholar Holly Folk calls them one of several modern movements to emerge from the Breslov tradition.<ref name="Folk2018" /> Rosenfeld describes their vans playing music and the "Na Nach Nachma Nachman Meuman" logo.<ref name="Rosenfeld" /> | Na Nach followers regard Israel Ber Odesser (1888–1994) as the Messiah, in a line of reincarnations of Nachman. The religion scholar Holly Folk calls them one of several modern movements to emerge from the Breslov tradition.<ref name="Folk2018" /> Rosenfeld describes their vans playing music and the "Na Nach Nachma Nachman Meuman" logo.<ref name="Rosenfeld" /> | ||
| + | |||
| + | Biale and his co-authors date Odesser's community to the 1960s. [[Israel Ber Odesser]] (1888?–1994), known as "the Grandfather" or the ''Ba'al ha-Petek'' ("possessor of the Note"), came from a family of Karlin Hasidim in Tiberias and as a young man became a follower of Israel Halpern, one of the leading Bratslav figures of the early twentieth century.<ref name="BialeBook736" /> His standing rests on "the Note" (''ha-petek''), a slip of paper that he said he found in one of his books in 1922, after breaking the fast of 17 Tammuz, bearing the words "Na Nah Nahma Nahman me-Uman". In 1984, when he was living in an old people's home, a group of young Bratslav Hasidim, most of them newly religious and of French origin, made him their quasi-rebbe and spread the slogan through graffiti and stickers; the group was mocked as the "Nahnahim". Several prominent Bratslav leaders rejected the Note as inauthentic, and some said it had been written as a joke at Odesser's expense by a Slonim Hasid in Tiberias. Some of his admirers regard him as the Messiah. The authors write that most of the Bratslav Hasidim who dance in the streets of Israel belong to this group.<ref name="BialeBook737" /> | ||
=== Yavne'el === | === Yavne'el === | ||
Eliezer Shlomo Schick (known as Mohorosh) settled his followers in Yavne'el in Lower Galilee in 1986. According to Hidabroot, the community now numbers about 400 families, and a large synagogue was built there in 2012. His students also run study halls in Jerusalem, Bnei Brak, Ashdod, Bat Yam, Netivot, Tel Aviv and Beersheba. In the United States, where Schick spent most of the year, his main study hall was in Boro Park, and his students set up halls in Monroe, Monsey and Williamsburg.<ref name="Hidabroot" /> Schick died in 2015, aged 74.<ref name="JewishNews2023" /> | Eliezer Shlomo Schick (known as Mohorosh) settled his followers in Yavne'el in Lower Galilee in 1986. According to Hidabroot, the community now numbers about 400 families, and a large synagogue was built there in 2012. His students also run study halls in Jerusalem, Bnei Brak, Ashdod, Bat Yam, Netivot, Tel Aviv and Beersheba. In the United States, where Schick spent most of the year, his main study hall was in Boro Park, and his students set up halls in Monroe, Monsey and Williamsburg.<ref name="Hidabroot" /> Schick died in 2015, aged 74.<ref name="JewishNews2023" /> | ||
| + | |||
| + | Biale and his co-authors write that Schick (1940–2015) founded a group that came to function as a full court; he was crowned its rebbe and presented himself as the reincarnation of Nachman. He later divided his time between [[Yavne'el]] and a community he built in New York. After his death his sons, following his will, took control of the community's organisations, while his disciples took over his spiritual role.<ref name="BialeBook736" /> | ||
== Uman pilgrimage == | == Uman pilgrimage == | ||
| − | In the early 1990s only a few dozen Hasidim travelled to Uman for Rosh Hashanah. The pilgrimage now draws tens of thousands, many of them secular Israelis.<ref name="YnetWhy" /> The BRI puts the number at "more than 35,000".<ref name="BRIUman" /> The World Committee of Breslov Chassidim organises the pilgrimage.<ref name="Vaad" /> | + | In the early 1990s only a few dozen Hasidim travelled to Uman for Rosh Hashanah. The pilgrimage now draws tens of thousands, many of them secular Israelis.<ref name="YnetWhy" /> The BRI puts the number at "more than 35,000".<ref name="BRIUman" /> The World Committee of Breslov Chassidim organises the pilgrimage.<ref name="Vaad" /> Biale and his co-authors write that pilgrimages became possible again from the perestroika period, especially after Ukraine's independence in 1991, and that by the early 2010s pilgrims numbered tens of thousands a year. Not all of them are Bratslav Hasidim: the event also attracts "fellow-travelers and curiosity seekers".<ref name="BialeBook738" /><ref name="BialeBook739" /> |
Israel has tried to move Nachman's remains to Israel; the idea was raised by President [[Chaim Herzog]] in 1992 and by Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely. Ukraine refused, calling the grave a "cultural asset".<ref name="YnetWhy" /> | Israel has tried to move Nachman's remains to Israel; the idea was raised by President [[Chaim Herzog]] in 1992 and by Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely. Ukraine refused, calling the grave a "cultural asset".<ref name="YnetWhy" /> | ||
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== Israel, the army and the occupied territories == | == Israel, the army and the occupied territories == | ||
| + | Biale and his co-authors write that Bratslav as a movement does not involve itself in Israeli national politics, and that, given its fragmentation, some Bratslav Hasidim take a decidedly anti-Zionist line while others are of a Zionist or messianic orientation.<ref name="BialeBook735" /> | ||
| + | |||
Many young Breslov men are among the Haredi draft evaders arrested by Israeli military police (see [[#Uman pilgrimage|Uman pilgrimage]]).<ref name="INN2026" /> At the same time, Breslev.co.il, the website linked to Shalom Arush's Chut Shel Chessed, runs a donation campaign called "spiritual iron swords for IDF soldiers" (חרבות ברזל רוחניות לחיילי צה"ל).<ref name="BreslevDonate" /> | Many young Breslov men are among the Haredi draft evaders arrested by Israeli military police (see [[#Uman pilgrimage|Uman pilgrimage]]).<ref name="INN2026" /> At the same time, Breslev.co.il, the website linked to Shalom Arush's Chut Shel Chessed, runs a donation campaign called "spiritual iron swords for IDF soldiers" (חרבות ברזל רוחניות לחיילי צה"ל).<ref name="BreslevDonate" /> | ||
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=== Beitar Illit === | === Beitar Illit === | ||
| − | In April 2024 BRI director Chaim Kramer wrote of "rockets above Beitar Illit, the city where I live, south of Jerusalem".<ref name="BRIBeitar" /> The Applied Research Institute – Jerusalem (ARIJ) says Beitar Illit was set up in 1985 on Palestinian-owned land from the villages of Husan (3,430 dunums), Nahhalin (688 dunums) and Wadi Fukin (567 dunums).<ref name="POICA2010" /> It is one of the West Bank settlements covered by the ICJ finding.<ref name="ICJ2024" /> | + | In April 2024 BRI director Chaim Kramer wrote of "rockets above Beitar Illit, the city where I live, south of Jerusalem".<ref name="BRIBeitar" /> The Applied Research Institute – Jerusalem (ARIJ) says Beitar Illit was set up in 1985 on Palestinian-owned land from the villages of Husan (3,430 dunums), Nahhalin (688 dunums) and Wadi Fukin (567 dunums).<ref name="POICA2010" /> It is one of the West Bank settlements covered by the ICJ finding.<ref name="ICJ2024" /> According to Biale and his co-authors, [[Eliezer Berland]] settled in Beitar Illit after leaving the Shuvu Banim yeshiva following the 2010 dispute.<ref name="BialeBook738" /> |
| + | |||
| + | === Hilltop settlements === | ||
| + | Biale and his co-authors write that there are "Hasidim or quasi-Hasidim, especially associated with Chabad and Bratslav, in some of the illegal 'hilltop' settlements in the West Bank". These young people are mostly of religious Zionist background and are not recognised as Hasidim by the mainstream Hasidic communities.<ref name="BialeBook710" /> The authors also describe [[Bat Ayin]], founded in 1989 by seven families led by [[Yitzhak Ginsburgh]], as a settlement of some two hundred families that has attracted many ''baalei teshuvah'', some loosely affiliated with Chabad and others with Bratslav.<ref name="BialeBook798" /> | ||
== Finances and charities == | == Finances and charities == | ||
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! Year !! Court and process !! Offences !! Sentence | ! Year !! Court and process !! Offences !! Sentence | ||
|- | |- | ||
| − | | 2016 || Plea bargain after extradition from South Africa || Indecent assault against two women, and assault on the husband of one of them, whom he had beaten for reporting the matter to the press || 18 months<ref name="JPost2021" /><ref name="INN2021" /> | + | | 2016 || Plea bargain after extradition from South Africa || Indecent assault against two women, and assault on the husband of one of them, whom he had beaten for reporting the matter to the press || 18 months<ref name="JPost2021" /><ref name="INN2021" /><ref name="BialeBook738" /> |
|- | |- | ||
| 7 June 2021 || Jerusalem District Court, plea bargain || Fraud, extortion and exploitation of people in distress, attempted intimidation, tax offences and money laundering || 18 months (13 already served), fine of NIS 2,415,000 and compensation to victims<ref name="JPost2021" /><ref name="Ynet2021" /><ref name="INN2021" /> | | 7 June 2021 || Jerusalem District Court, plea bargain || Fraud, extortion and exploitation of people in distress, attempted intimidation, tax offences and money laundering || 18 months (13 already served), fine of NIS 2,415,000 and compensation to victims<ref name="JPost2021" /><ref name="Ynet2021" /><ref name="INN2021" /> | ||
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=== Allegations === | === Allegations === | ||
| − | * '''Berland, 2012–2016.''' Allegations of sexual misconduct against Berland surfaced in 2012. He left Israel and travelled in Europe and Africa until his arrest in South Africa.<ref name="INNCult2018" /><ref name="INN2021" /> | + | * '''Berland, 2012–2016.''' Allegations of sexual misconduct against Berland surfaced in 2012. He left Israel and travelled in Europe and Africa until his arrest in South Africa.<ref name="INNCult2018" /><ref name="INN2021" /> Biale and his co-authors write that the rumours of a sexual scandal spread in the media in the summer of 2012; Berland's Hasidim said the story came from an extortion attempt linked to his entanglement with the underworld. He fled Israel with a small group of followers and moved between Morocco, Zimbabwe, South Africa and the Netherlands before his extradition from South Africa in 2016.<ref name="BialeBook738" /> |
| + | * '''Yavne'el, under-age marriages.''' Biale and his co-authors write that Schick's settlement in Yavne'el "gained notoriety for encouraging marriages of minors" and for a strict lifestyle that included modest dress for women.<ref name="BialeBook736" /> | ||
* '''Cult description, 2018.''' In 2018 the Israeli Center for Cult Victims, led by Rachel Lichtenstein, asked that Berland be stopped from lighting the Lag Ba'Omer bonfire at Meron. It called his group a sect and warned that new people could become "the next victims".<ref name="INNCult2018" /> | * '''Cult description, 2018.''' In 2018 the Israeli Center for Cult Victims, led by Rachel Lichtenstein, asked that Berland be stopped from lighting the Lag Ba'Omer bonfire at Meron. It called his group a sect and warned that new people could become "the next victims".<ref name="INNCult2018" /> | ||
* '''Yavne'el, 2023.''' The BBC Storyville film ''In the Name of the Father'', directed by Bat-Dor Ojalvo, alleged sexual abuse of children, illegal under-age marriages and physical and emotional violence in the Yavne'el community, with Schick presiding from Brooklyn. After the film was shown in Israel, the police, the attorney-general's office and the education and social welfare ministries began an inquiry.<ref name="JewishNews2023" /> | * '''Yavne'el, 2023.''' The BBC Storyville film ''In the Name of the Father'', directed by Bat-Dor Ojalvo, alleged sexual abuse of children, illegal under-age marriages and physical and emotional violence in the Yavne'el community, with Schick presiding from Brooklyn. After the film was shown in Israel, the police, the attorney-general's office and the education and social welfare ministries began an inquiry.<ref name="JewishNews2023" /> | ||
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<ref name="INN2021">Arutz Sheva Staff, [https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/307612 Eliezer Berland convicted of extortion and fraud] ''Israel National News'', 7 June 2021, accessed 26 October 2026.</ref> | <ref name="INN2021">Arutz Sheva Staff, [https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/307612 Eliezer Berland convicted of extortion and fraud] ''Israel National News'', 7 June 2021, accessed 26 October 2026.</ref> | ||
<ref name="INNCult2018">Tzvi Lev, [https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/245042 'Rabbi Berland is a cult leader'] ''Israel National News'', 26 April 2018, accessed 26 October 2026.</ref> | <ref name="INNCult2018">Tzvi Lev, [https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/245042 'Rabbi Berland is a cult leader'] ''Israel National News'', 26 April 2018, accessed 26 October 2026.</ref> | ||
| + | <ref name="BialeBook710">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. 710.</ref> | ||
| + | <ref name="BialeBook735">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. 735.</ref> | ||
| + | <ref name="BialeBook736">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. 736.</ref> | ||
| + | <ref name="BialeBook737">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. 737.</ref> | ||
| + | <ref name="BialeBook738">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. 738.</ref> | ||
| + | <ref name="BialeBook739">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. 739.</ref> | ||
| + | <ref name="BialeBook798">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. 798.</ref> | ||
</references> | </references> | ||
Latest revision as of 14:50, 29 October 2026
Hasidic movement founded by Nachman of Breslov in about 1802, with no hereditary rebbe, an Israeli following and an annual pilgrimage to Uman
| Breslov (חסידות ברסלב) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Founded | 1802 Bratslav (Breslov), Podolia, now Ukraine | |
| Founder | Nachman of Breslov (1772–1810) | |
| Leader | Leadership No rebbe since 1810; independent teachers and groups | |
| Headquarters | No single seat; centres in Uman (Ukraine), Jerusalem, Safed, Bnei Brak and Yavne'el | |
| Type | Hasidic movement (no hereditary rebbe) | |
| Languages | Website | Notes |
Breslov (also Bratslav or Breslev) is a branch of Hasidic Judaism founded by Nachman of Breslov (1772–1810), a great-grandson of the Baal Shem Tov. It takes its name from the Ukrainian town of Bratslav, where Nachman lived from 1802.[2][1] Its practice centres on a personal bond with God through emunah (faith), simcha (joy), hisbodedus (solitary spoken prayer) and teshuvah (repentance), and on the Rosh Hashanah gathering at Nachman's grave in Uman.[1]
Nachman named no successor, and Breslov has had no living rebbe since his death. Other Hasidim called its followers "the dead Hasidim".[2][1] Unlike hereditary courts such as Satmar or Ger, Breslov today is a loose set of communities and networks, many built by baalei teshuvah (returnees to Orthodox practice).[2][3]
The movement's main bodies in Israel and the occupied territories include the World Committee of Breslov Chassidim in Jerusalem, the Shuvu Banim yeshiva in the Old City of Jerusalem, the Yavne'el community in Galilee and the Breslov Research Institute, whose director lives in the settlement of Beitar Illit in the West Bank.[4][5][6][7]
History
Nachman and Nathan
Nachman moved to Bratslav in 1802. His circle "never numbered more than a few hundred" in his lifetime, and he was drawn into bitter disputes with other Hasidic leaders, notably Aryeh Leib of Shpole.[2] He died in Uman in 1810 without naming an heir.[2]
His disciple and scribe Nathan (Noson) Sternhartz (1780–1844) preserved and published his teachings, including Likutei Moharan. He organised the first Rosh Hashanah gathering (kibbutz) at the grave in 1811 and turned it into an annual pilgrimage.[2][1]
Persecution and the 19th century
Other Hasidic groups persecuted Bratslav Hasidim through the 19th century. In the mid-1830s the campaign was led by Moshe Tsevi of Savran (1775–1837); in the 1860s it was led by tsadikim of the Chernobyl dynasty.[2] Breslov's own history dates "fierce persecution instigated by the Savraner Rebbe", including imprisonment and exile, to 1834.[1]
Soviet rule and the Holocaust
The movement survived Soviet suppression. Between the wars a centre in Lublin, Poland, took the place of Uman for several hundred followers.[2] Yitzchok Breiter (1886–1943) spread Breslov teaching in Poland and was murdered at Treblinka.[1]
According to the Breslov Research Institute (BRI), the Nazis made Uman Judenrein. Under Soviet rule small groups made clandestine visits to the grave until 1989, and Michel Dorfman was the de facto head of Breslov in Russia.[8] The Soviet Jewish underground page covers this period.
Rebuilding after 1945
After the Second World War Breslov re-emerged in Israel and the Americas.[2]
- Eliyahu Chaim Rosen founded the Breslov Yeshiva in Jerusalem in the 1950s.[1]
- Levi Yitzchok Bender (1897–1989) headed the Breslov synagogue in Jerusalem and drew "thousands of baalei teshuvah".[1]
- Gedaliah Aharon Koenig rebuilt the community in Safed.[1]
- Zvi Aryeh Rosenfeld (1922–1978) brought Breslov to the United States and began English translation.[1]
- Aryeh Kaplan's English translation appeared in 1973, and in 1979 Chaim Kramer founded the Breslov Research Institute.[1]
According to David Biale and his co-authors, the small Bratslav centre in the Old City of Jerusalem broke up when the Jordanian Legion captured the area, and its Hasidim moved to other parts of Jerusalem, to Bnei Brak and to Tel Aviv. They later built a centre in Jerusalem's Mea Shearim district, which became the focus for the more conservative Bratslav Hasidim and remained small in the years after the 1948 war. A second community formed in Safed around Gedaliah Aharon Koenig (1921–1980), who had become a Chabad Hasid in his teens before coming under the influence of Avraham Sternhartz, a great-grandson of Nathan Sternhartz; the Safed community is often regarded as quieter and more given to the deep study of Nachman's teachings.[9]
The historian David Biale says Breslov remained "very, very small" until the fall of Communism. Since then it "has taken off" and become "a missionizing movement".[10]
Size and following
There is no membership count. The YIVO Encyclopedia describes Breslov today as small and fragmented, with no living rebbe, but popular among secular Jews since the late 20th century.[2] The Israeli writer Shlomi Rosenfeld gives a popular estimate of "100,000 or more". He describes many followers as baalei teshuvah, Ashkenazi or Mizrahi, in communities that each have their own rebbe.[3] Biale says many Uman pilgrims "are not really Bratslav" but "fellow travelers".[10] His history of Hasidism, written with seven co-authors, says the Uman gathering draws "fellow-travelers and curiosity seekers" as well as Bratslav Hasidim.[11]
An Israel Democracy Institute survey from July and August 2026 found that 8 per cent of adult Jewish Israelis had visited Nachman's grave at least once. The figure was 13 per cent among Mizrahi Jews and 5 per cent among Ashkenazi Jews.[12]
Leaders and groups
There is no single hierarchy. The main groups are listed below.
| Group | Leader(s) | Base | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| World Committee of Breslov Chassidim (Vaad Olami D'Chasidei Breslov) | Michel Dorfman (chairman); members include Yaakov Meir Shechter, Moshe Burstien, Moshe Kramer, Nosson Libermensh, Elazar Mordechai Kenig and Moshe Keonig | 36 Salant Street, P.O.B. 5944, Jerusalem | Organises the Uman pilgrimage.[4] |
| Safed community | Gedaliah Aharon Koenig; his son Elazar Mordechai Koenig | Safed | Elazar Koenig is the community's spiritual leader.[4][1] |
| Shuvu Banim | Eliezer Berland | Rehov Hebron 32 (Maaleh Haldia), Old City, Jerusalem, P.O.B. 57251, Jerusalem 9157102; US office 551 East 3rd Street, Brooklyn, New York 11218 | Yeshiva and community; Berland has two criminal convictions (see Controversies).[5][13] |
| Chut Shel Chessed / Breslev.co.il | Shalom Arush | Jerusalem | Breslev.co.il calls Arush head of the Chut Shel Chessed institutions.[14] Biale and his co-authors name him as a former student of Berland.[15] |
| Na Nach | Followers of Israel Ber Odesser (1888–1994) | Israel | One of several movements to come out of Breslov; followers regard Odesser as the Messiah.[16] |
| Yavne'el community (Heichal Hakodesh) | Eliezer Shlomo Schick (died 2015) | Yavne'el, Lower Galilee; Boro Park, Brooklyn | See below.[6][17] |
| Breslov Research Institute | Chaim Kramer (founder, 1979) | 8 Avinadav Street, POB 5370, Jerusalem; POB 587, Monsey, NY 10952 | Translation and publishing.[1][18] |
Shuvu Banim
Shuvu Banim is a yeshiva and community led by Eliezer Berland. The Jerusalem Post calls it "the Shuvu Banim sect of the Breslov hassidic community".[13] A history published on Berland's website says the yeshiva's students were based in Bnei Brak until the early 1980s. In 1981–82 the Atara L'Yoshna organisation obtained the former Chayei Olam yeshiva building on Maale Halediya for them. The street had been left outside the rebuilt Jewish Quarter after 1967. The organisation paid one Arab resident key money (damei mafteach) to leave, and several Arab families were still living in the courtyard when Shuvu Banim moved in.[19] The yeshiva gives its address as Rehov Hebron 32 (Maaleh Haldia) in the Old City. Its listed departments include a "Fund for the Redemption of Buildings in the Old City".[5]
In December 2010 Haaretz reported that Berland had "reinstated himself" at the head of the community. He said he had been "exploited for years by the powerful court built around him by his son and grandson".[20]
According to Biale and his co-authors, Berland (born 1937) first tried to attract students from Lithuanian yeshivot, but had most success with secular young people, some of them with links to the criminal underworld.[21] They write that he adopted "a peculiar concoction of political ideologies, blending the radical anti-Zionism of Satmar, which usually demands political and military pacifism, with a sharply militant anti-Arabism, of a spirit close to that of the far-right in Israel".[21] Before his downfall he drew many students, some of whom, such as Shalom Arush and Ofer Erez, became Bratslav leaders in their own right.[15]
Na Nach
Na Nach followers regard Israel Ber Odesser (1888–1994) as the Messiah, in a line of reincarnations of Nachman. The religion scholar Holly Folk calls them one of several modern movements to emerge from the Breslov tradition.[16] Rosenfeld describes their vans playing music and the "Na Nach Nachma Nachman Meuman" logo.[3]
Biale and his co-authors date Odesser's community to the 1960s. Israel Ber Odesser (1888?–1994), known as "the Grandfather" or the Ba'al ha-Petek ("possessor of the Note"), came from a family of Karlin Hasidim in Tiberias and as a young man became a follower of Israel Halpern, one of the leading Bratslav figures of the early twentieth century.[22] His standing rests on "the Note" (ha-petek), a slip of paper that he said he found in one of his books in 1922, after breaking the fast of 17 Tammuz, bearing the words "Na Nah Nahma Nahman me-Uman". In 1984, when he was living in an old people's home, a group of young Bratslav Hasidim, most of them newly religious and of French origin, made him their quasi-rebbe and spread the slogan through graffiti and stickers; the group was mocked as the "Nahnahim". Several prominent Bratslav leaders rejected the Note as inauthentic, and some said it had been written as a joke at Odesser's expense by a Slonim Hasid in Tiberias. Some of his admirers regard him as the Messiah. The authors write that most of the Bratslav Hasidim who dance in the streets of Israel belong to this group.[21]
Yavne'el
Eliezer Shlomo Schick (known as Mohorosh) settled his followers in Yavne'el in Lower Galilee in 1986. According to Hidabroot, the community now numbers about 400 families, and a large synagogue was built there in 2012. His students also run study halls in Jerusalem, Bnei Brak, Ashdod, Bat Yam, Netivot, Tel Aviv and Beersheba. In the United States, where Schick spent most of the year, his main study hall was in Boro Park, and his students set up halls in Monroe, Monsey and Williamsburg.[6] Schick died in 2015, aged 74.[17]
Biale and his co-authors write that Schick (1940–2015) founded a group that came to function as a full court; he was crowned its rebbe and presented himself as the reincarnation of Nachman. He later divided his time between Yavne'el and a community he built in New York. After his death his sons, following his will, took control of the community's organisations, while his disciples took over his spiritual role.[22]
Uman pilgrimage
In the early 1990s only a few dozen Hasidim travelled to Uman for Rosh Hashanah. The pilgrimage now draws tens of thousands, many of them secular Israelis.[23] The BRI puts the number at "more than 35,000".[8] The World Committee of Breslov Chassidim organises the pilgrimage.[4] Biale and his co-authors write that pilgrimages became possible again from the perestroika period, especially after Ukraine's independence in 1991, and that by the early 2010s pilgrims numbered tens of thousands a year. Not all of them are Bratslav Hasidim: the event also attracts "fellow-travelers and curiosity seekers".[15][11]
Israel has tried to move Nachman's remains to Israel; the idea was raised by President Chaim Herzog in 1992 and by Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely. Ukraine refused, calling the grave a "cultural asset".[23]
In 2025 an allocation of 10 million shekels in wartime drew attention, as did efforts to let draft evaders travel without being arrested.[23] In September 2026 the Hifkadity Shomrim organisation reported that about 70 of the 80 Haredi men held in military jails were Breslov Hasidim. They had been arrested at Ben Gurion Airport as IDF deserters or draft evaders while trying to fly to Uman. A lawyer, Shlomo Haddad, held advice sessions at the Ashkenazi Kloiz in Uman for men who feared arrest on their return.[24] Hundreds of Breslov Hasidim planned to spend Rosh Hashanah 2026 at the Adama V'Shamayim farm in Yavne'el instead.[25]
The Uman page covers the pilgrimage in more detail.
Israel, the army and the occupied territories
Biale and his co-authors write that Bratslav as a movement does not involve itself in Israeli national politics, and that, given its fragmentation, some Bratslav Hasidim take a decidedly anti-Zionist line while others are of a Zionist or messianic orientation.[9]
Many young Breslov men are among the Haredi draft evaders arrested by Israeli military police (see Uman pilgrimage).[24] At the same time, Breslev.co.il, the website linked to Shalom Arush's Chut Shel Chessed, runs a donation campaign called "spiritual iron swords for IDF soldiers" (חרבות ברזל רוחניות לחיילי צה"ל).[14]
Occupied East Jerusalem
The Shuvu Banim yeshiva is in the Old City of Jerusalem, outside the Jewish Quarter. A history published by Berland's followers calls its acquisition from the Arab families living there in the early 1980s the "redemption" of the building.[19][5] In 2024 the International Court of Justice (ICJ) found that Israel's settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem "have been established and are being maintained in violation of international law".[26]
Beitar Illit
In April 2024 BRI director Chaim Kramer wrote of "rockets above Beitar Illit, the city where I live, south of Jerusalem".[7] The Applied Research Institute – Jerusalem (ARIJ) says Beitar Illit was set up in 1985 on Palestinian-owned land from the villages of Husan (3,430 dunums), Nahhalin (688 dunums) and Wadi Fukin (567 dunums).[27] It is one of the West Bank settlements covered by the ICJ finding.[26] According to Biale and his co-authors, Eliezer Berland settled in Beitar Illit after leaving the Shuvu Banim yeshiva following the 2010 dispute.[15]
Hilltop settlements
Biale and his co-authors write that there are "Hasidim or quasi-Hasidim, especially associated with Chabad and Bratslav, in some of the illegal 'hilltop' settlements in the West Bank". These young people are mostly of religious Zionist background and are not recognised as Hasidim by the mainstream Hasidic communities.[28] The authors also describe Bat Ayin, founded in 1989 by seven families led by Yitzhak Ginsburgh, as a settlement of some two hundred families that has attracted many baalei teshuvah, some loosely affiliated with Chabad and others with Bratslav.[29]
Finances and charities
| Body | Country | Number | Address | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Breslov Research Institute | United States | Tax ID 11-2524542 | POB 587, Monsey, NY 10952 | BRI's US channel[18] |
| Breslov Research Institute | Israel | Amuta 58-009-223-7 | 8 Avinadav Street, POB 5370, Jerusalem | [18] |
| The Rabbi Nachman of Breslov Charitable Foundation | England and Wales | Charity 280174 | c/o Binyomin Moss-Barclay, 362 Lower Broughton Road, Salford M7 2HW | BRI's UK channel[18] |
| Canadian Friends of Chasidei Breslov | Canada | – | c/o Mr Chaim Oliver, 7601 Bathurst Suite 904, Thornhill, Ontario L4J 4H5 | BRI's Canadian channel[18] |
| Breslov Shul Trust | England and Wales | Charity 1184303 (CIO, registered 8 July 2019) | 38 Braydon Road, London N16 6QB | Works in England, Belgium, Israel, Ukraine and the United States; objects include relief of poverty in England and Wales, the USA, Israel and Europe. Year to 31 December 2024: income £56,062, spending £54,161.[30] |
| DEJ International Heritage Foundation | United States | Tax ID 51-0541244 | 4930 Sabal Palm Blvd. Apt 303, Tamarac, FL 33319 | Collects for the Kehillas Chen Hanachal Breslov synagogue in Ramat Beit Shemesh Alef; Israeli amuta 58-041-556-9[31] |
| Shuvu Banim (US office) | United States | EIN 13-2983832 | 551 East 3rd Street, Brooklyn, New York 11218 | [5] |
The Charity Commission register lists Israel and Ukraine among the Breslov Shul Trust's areas of operation. It does not say where in Israel or the occupied territories the money is spent.[30]
Controversies
Criminal convictions
| Year | Court and process | Offences | Sentence |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Plea bargain after extradition from South Africa | Indecent assault against two women, and assault on the husband of one of them, whom he had beaten for reporting the matter to the press | 18 months[13][32][15] |
| 7 June 2021 | Jerusalem District Court, plea bargain | Fraud, extortion and exploitation of people in distress, attempted intimidation, tax offences and money laundering | 18 months (13 already served), fine of NIS 2,415,000 and compensation to victims[13][33][32] |
Investigators said Berland had used his position in Shuvu Banim, and his followers' belief in his spiritual powers, to take money from hundreds of people.[32] The Jerusalem District Attorney's Office said he had been convicted on his own confession and of "embezzlement of tens of millions of shekels".[33]
Civil cases
Moishi Schick, son of Eliezer Shlomo Schick, was reported in 2023 to be "mounting a legal action to claim a massive financial inheritance from his father".[17]
Allegations
- Berland, 2012–2016. Allegations of sexual misconduct against Berland surfaced in 2012. He left Israel and travelled in Europe and Africa until his arrest in South Africa.[34][32] Biale and his co-authors write that the rumours of a sexual scandal spread in the media in the summer of 2012; Berland's Hasidim said the story came from an extortion attempt linked to his entanglement with the underworld. He fled Israel with a small group of followers and moved between Morocco, Zimbabwe, South Africa and the Netherlands before his extradition from South Africa in 2016.[15]
- Yavne'el, under-age marriages. Biale and his co-authors write that Schick's settlement in Yavne'el "gained notoriety for encouraging marriages of minors" and for a strict lifestyle that included modest dress for women.[22]
- Cult description, 2018. In 2018 the Israeli Center for Cult Victims, led by Rachel Lichtenstein, asked that Berland be stopped from lighting the Lag Ba'Omer bonfire at Meron. It called his group a sect and warned that new people could become "the next victims".[34]
- Yavne'el, 2023. The BBC Storyville film In the Name of the Father, directed by Bat-Dor Ojalvo, alleged sexual abuse of children, illegal under-age marriages and physical and emotional violence in the Yavne'el community, with Schick presiding from Brooklyn. After the film was shown in Israel, the police, the attorney-general's office and the education and social welfare ministries began an inquiry.[17]
See also
- Nachman of Breslov
- Uman
- Soviet Jewish underground
- Hasidic dynasties
- Chabad-Lubavitch
- Yitzchak Ginsburgh
External links
- Breslov Research Institute
- World Committee of Breslov Chassidim
- Breslev.co.il (Chut Shel Chessed)
- Shuvu Banim
- Breslov Shul Trust, Charity Commission register
- Kehillas Chen Hanachal appeal, Ramat Beit Shemesh
- Breslov.org: Ask a Breslover
Notes
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 Otzar Breslov, A Treasury of Breslov Torah, Stories & Advice Otzar Breslov, accessed 26 October 2026.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 2.9 Ada Rapoport-Albert, Bratslav Hasidism YIVO Encyclopedia of Jews in Eastern Europe, accessed 26 October 2026.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Shlomi Rosenfeld, The Breslovers: Joy, Uman, and Hasidism in Israeli Culture shlomirosenfeld.co.il, accessed 26 October 2026.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Vaad Olami D'Chasidei Breslov, World Committee of Breslov Chassidim breslov.com, accessed 26 October 2026.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 Shuvu Banim, Yeshivat Shuvu Banim shuvubonim.org, accessed 26 October 2026.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Hidabroot, Remembering the Tzadik of Yavniel Hidabroot, 18 January 2026, accessed 26 October 2026.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Chaim Kramer, In Every Generation They Rise Up to Destroy Us Breslov Research Institute, 15 April 2024, archived 13 February 2026, accessed 26 October 2026.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Gedaliah Fleer, Getting to Uman Breslov Research Institute, 15 September 2025, archived 20 July 2026, accessed 26 October 2026.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 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. 735.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Jason Lustig, A New History of Hasidism with David Biale Jewish History Matters, 2 September 2018, archived 15 April 2024, accessed 26 October 2026.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 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. 739.
- ↑ RISU, 8% of adult Jews in Israel have pilgrimage experience at Rabbi Nachman's gravesite in Uman Religious Information Service of Ukraine, 11 September 2026, accessed 26 October 2026.
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 Jeremy Sharon, Disgraced hassidic leader Berland convicted again Jerusalem Post, 7 June 2021, accessed 26 October 2026.
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 Breslev.co.il, תרומות (Donations) Breslev.co.il, accessed 26 October 2026.
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 15.3 15.4 15.5 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. 738.
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 Holly Folk, The Religious Challenge of Neo-Hasidic Judaism: Contextualizing the Daniel Ambash Case The Journal of CESNUR 2/6, November–December 2018, pp. 37–53, accessed 26 October 2026.
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 17.3 Jenni Frazer, The doc that shocked Israel Jewish News, 24 May 2023, archived 24 January 2025, accessed 26 October 2026.
- ↑ 18.0 18.1 18.2 18.3 18.4 Breslov Research Institute, Donate Breslov.org, archived 8 October 2026, accessed 26 October 2026.
- ↑ 19.0 19.1 Rav Berland website, History of the Shuvu Banim Yeshiva in the Old City ravberland.com, accessed 26 October 2026.
- ↑ Yair Ettinger, Upheaval in a Breslav Hasidic Court Haaretz, 15 December 2010, archived 27 May 2026, accessed 26 October 2026.
- ↑ 21.0 21.1 21.2 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. 737.
- ↑ 22.0 22.1 22.2 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. 736.
- ↑ 23.0 23.1 23.2 Shilo Freid, Why do tens of thousands of Israelis travel to Uman on Rosh Hashanah? Ynet News, 27 August 2025, accessed 26 October 2026.
- ↑ 24.0 24.1 Israel National News, 70 Breslov Hassidim jailed after attempting to fly to Uman Arutz Sheva, 11 September 2026, accessed 26 October 2026.
- ↑ Shilo Freid, Breslov Hasidim recreate Uman in Israel as draft-age men fear arrest upon return Ynet News, 12 August 2026, accessed 26 October 2026.
- ↑ 26.0 26.1 International Court of Justice, Summary of the Advisory Opinion of 19 July 2024 icj-cij.org, 19 July 2024, accessed 26 October 2026.
- ↑ Applied Research Institute – Jerusalem, "Expanding the settlement of Betar Illit" Warmly welcoming to the US Mideast special envoy G. Mitchell POICA, 9 March 2010, accessed 26 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. 710.
- ↑ 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. 798.
- ↑ 30.0 30.1 Charity Commission for England and Wales, Breslov Shul Trust – 1184303 Register of Charities, accessed 26 October 2026.
- ↑ Kehillas Chen Hanachal, Build a Breslov Shul in Israel buildabreslovshul.com, accessed 26 October 2026.
- ↑ 32.0 32.1 32.2 32.3 Arutz Sheva Staff, Eliezer Berland convicted of extortion and fraud Israel National News, 7 June 2021, accessed 26 October 2026.
- ↑ 33.0 33.1 Gilad Morag and Haim Goldich, Disgraced rabbi sentenced to 18 months in jail under plea bargain Ynet News, 7 June 2021, accessed 26 October 2026.
- ↑ 34.0 34.1 Tzvi Lev, 'Rabbi Berland is a cult leader' Israel National News, 26 April 2018, accessed 26 October 2026.