Belz (Hasidic dynasty)

A Hasidic sect originally located in the town of Belz in eastern Galicia near Lvov in what is now Ukraine. The Belz Hasidic Dynasty was founded by Rabbi Shalom Rokeaḥ (1783–1855), a devoted disciple of Ya‘akov Yitsḥak Horowitz, the so-called Seer of Lublin. Rokeaḥ established his famous court in Belz around 1817, attracting many followers from Poland, Galicia, and Hungary. He was known as both a miracle worker and a Talmudist, and maintained a close relationship with the Galician non-Hasidic rabbinate of his time. His everyday life was simple, and he was the first rebbe who did not dress in white (as was common for kabbalists and early Hasidic leaders).

Political parties associated with Belz

• United Torah Judaism | Agudat Yisrael

Belz today

Since 1966, Rabbi Yissachar Dov Rokeach has presided over both the expansion of Belz educational institutions and the growth of Hasidic populations in Israel, the United States, and Europe. Like other Hasidic groups, the Belz community has established a variety of self-help organizations, including one of the largest patient-advocacy organizations of its kind, a free medical counseling center, and an affordable medical treatment clinic in the New York area.

Under the Rebbe's leadership, the Belz Hasidut has grown from a few hundred families at the time of his accession to leadership in 1966, to over 11,000 families, as of 2022. Belz is Israel's second largest Hasidic group.

United Kingdom

London

In London, the Belz community is now centred in Stamford Hill. In the 1930s, an early Belz synagogue was on Commercial Road, Limehouse, in the East End of London.

Salford

There is a Belz community centred around Broughton Park in Salford, part of Greater Manchester. Several UK charities are associated with the Belz movement, including i Salford: The Helping Foundation | The Sympathetic Trust | Newmarston Ltd | A W Charitable Trust | RNH Synagogue & College Ltd | The Sanz Foundation | The Reisner Charitable Foundation Ltd | Broom Foundation | Newmarston Ltd | M and M Foundation | British Friends of Ezrat Yisrael Kiryat Sefer

Belz associated schools in the UK include: Talmud Torah Tashbar | Yeshivah Ohr Torah School | TTMH Belz Day School | Bnos Yisroel School Manchester

Belz yeshivas

Belz maintains 12 yeshivas in Israel: 7 yeshiva gedolas (including two in Ashdod, and one each in Jerusalem, Bnei Brak, Betar, Bet shemesh, and Haifa); 5 yeshiva ketanas (in Telzstone, Bnei Brak, Ashdod, Beit Hilkia, and Komemiyut); and 7 other yeshiva ketanas around the world — in Antwerp, London, Montreal, Monsey, and three in Borough Park, Brooklyn, and one in Lakewood, New Jersey.

The Belz network of girls' schools are under the names Bnos Belz and Beis Malka.

The rapper Shyne, who converted to Judaism, studied with Hasidim from the Belz group in Jerusalem.

Notable Belz Hasidim

• Yaakov Yechezkiya Greenwald (1882–1941), rabbi
• Shulem Lemmer (born 1989), singer
• Yaakov Yitzhak Neumann (1920–2007), rabbi
• Aharon Mordechai Rokeach (born 1975), rabbi
• Mordechai Rokeach (1902–1949), rabbi

Resources

• https://www.timesofisrael.com/belz-hasidic-sect-to-begin-teaching-core-curriculum-more-said-to-follow/
• https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/57295/
• https://www.nytimes.com/1981/03/03/nyregion/guard-set-for-belz-rabbi-as-hasidic-tension-grows.html
• https://archive.jpr.org.uk/download?id=2448
• https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/mothers-face-ban-from-driving-their-children-to-orthodox-jewish-schools-in-stamford-hill-10280936.html
• https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3100674/Orthodox-Jewish-sect-compared-Saudi-Arabia-banning-women-London-driving-barring-pupils-school-dropped-mothers.html