Aleksander (Hasidic dynasty)
Hasidic dynasty founded in Aleksandrów Łódzki, Poland; re-established after the Holocaust and now led from Bnei Brak
| Aleksander | |
|---|---|
| Founded | Aleksandrów Łódzki, Poland |
| Founder | Shraga Feivel of Gritsa (died 1848); Yechiel Danziger (1828–1894) |
| Leader | Rebbe Yisrael Tzvi Yair Danziger |
| Headquarters | Bnei Brak |
| Type | Hasidic dynasty |
| Notes | |
Aleksander (also Alexander) is a Hasidic dynasty named after the town of Aleksandrów Łódzki, near Łódź in Poland. The YIVO Encyclopedia calls it the second most important Hasidic dynasty in Poland after Ger.[1] Most of its followers and of its rebbes' families were killed in the Holocaust; the dynasty was re-established in the Land of Israel, and its present rebbe lives in Bnei Brak.[3] Associations bearing the Aleksander name are registered in Israel, including in the West Bank settlements of Modi'in Illit and Beitar Illit, and in New York State.
History
Origins
According to YIVO, the dynasty was founded by Shraga Feivel of Gritsa (Grójec), who moved to Aleksander after his teacher, Yitzchak of Vurke, died at the end of Passover 1848; Shraga Feivel died six months later. His son Yechiel (1828–1894) did not at first wish to succeed him. He became a disciple of Menachem Mendel of Vurke and then of Berish of Biała, and only agreed to become rebbe in Aleksander after Berish's death in 1876, living on his salary as the town's rabbi.[1] Matzav says Yechiel set up his court in Aleksandrów in 1878.[2]
Yismach Yisrael and his successors
Yechiel was succeeded by his son Yerachmiel Yisrael Yitzchak (1854–1910), whom YIVO calls the most renowned member of the dynasty. A Talmudic scholar with influence even among non-Hasidic Jews in Łódź, he was a strong opponent of modernity, and his book Yismach Yisrael (1911) was seen as one of the most important Hasidic statements on the dangers that modernisation posed to traditional Jewish life. He taught that every Jew inherited an "inner point" that linked all Jews, whether they knew it or not.[1] Matzav gives his dates as 1853–1910 and says he drew "tens of thousands" of Hasidim.[2]
He had no children and was succeeded by his brother Shmuel Tzvi (died 1923), who had been a businessman. Shmuel Tzvi's son Yitzchak Menachem (1880–1943) encouraged a network of yeshivas in Aleksander and Łódź and kept the dynasty's tradition of political neutrality, though in some towns it ran its own party in local elections. The outbreak of the Second World War found him in Warsaw, and he and most of his family died in Treblinka.[1] Matzav gives his dates as 1880–1942 and says that before the Holocaust there were 35 Aleksander prayer houses (shtiblach) in Łódź.[2]
Re-establishment in Israel
Behadrei Haredim says that after the Holocaust, in which tens of thousands of Aleksander Hasidim were killed, Rabbi Yehuda Moshe Danziger, son-in-law of Rabbi Betzalel Yair Danziger, was appointed rebbe in Jerusalem. He later moved to Bnei Brak and rebuilt the movement in Israel. His original surname was Tiberg, which he changed to Danziger in honour of the earlier rebbes.[3] Matzav says he settled in Mandatory Palestine in 1934 and accepted the leadership in 1947.[2] YIVO also dates his leadership to 1947, but calls him "Yehudah Mosheh Tiehberg (1898–1977)" and a grandson of Yitzchak Menachem, whereas Matzav gives his dates as 1892–1973 and Behadrei Haredim dates his death to 23 Adar I 5733 (1973).[1][2][3]
He was succeeded by his son, Avraham Menachem Danziger, who led the movement for 32 years until his death on 17 Adar II 5765 (2005); his teachings were collected as Imrei Menachem.[3] Matzav gives Avraham Menachem's dates as 1921–2005 and says he was a member of Israel's Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah.[2] His son, Yisrael Tzvi Yair Danziger, whom Behadrei Haredim calls the seventh rebbe of the dynasty, then became rebbe. He is a son-in-law of Rabbi Moshe Bergman, founder of the Rashbi yeshiva.[3] In January 2010 he led Aleksander Hasidim from around the world, on chartered flights, to Aleksandrów Łódzki and Łódź for the hundredth anniversary of the death of the author of Yismach Yisrael.[2]
| Leader | Dates | Base | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shraga Feivel of Gritsa | died 1848 | Grójec, then Aleksandrów Łódzki | Disciple of Yitzchak of Vurke[1] |
| Yechiel Danziger | 1828–1894 | Aleksandrów Łódzki | Rebbe after 1876[1] |
| Yerachmiel Yisrael Yitzchak Danziger | 1854–1910 | Aleksandrów Łódzki | Author of Yismach Yisrael[1] |
| Shmuel Tzvi Danziger | died 1923 | Aleksandrów Łódzki | Brother of the above[1] |
| Yitzchak Menachem Danziger | 1880–1943 (YIVO); 1880–1942 (Matzav) | Aleksandrów Łódzki | Killed in Treblinka[1][2] |
| Yehuda Moshe Danziger | 1892–1973 (Matzav); 1898–1977 (YIVO) | Jerusalem, then Bnei Brak | Rebbe from 1947[1][2][3] |
| Avraham Menachem Danziger | 1921–2005 | Bnei Brak | Author of Imrei Menachem[2][3] |
| Yisrael Tzvi Yair Danziger | Bnei Brak | Rebbe from 2005[3] |
Institutions in Israel
Associations (amutot) and a public benefit company connected with the dynasty on the Israeli Registrar of Associations include the following. A search for "אלכסנדר" also returns many unrelated associations, which are left out.[4]
| Association | Number | Registered | Address | Income (latest report) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yeshivot Beit Yisrael Tiferet Menachem DeAleksander (ישיבות בית ישראל תפארת מנחם דאלכסנדר בא"י - "ישיבת אלכסנדר") | 580042877 | 29 August 1983 | 13 Admorei Aleksander Street, Bnei Brak | ₪10,987,075 (2024) |
| Beit Tefilla named after the Admorei Aleksander (בית תפילה ע"ש אדמורי אלכסנדר) | 580128999 | 20 October 1988 | 17 HaRav Kook Street, Bnei Brak | ₪32,461 (2022) |
| Atza – Irgun Tze'irei Aleksander (אצ"א - ארגון צעירי אלכסנדר) | 580202356 | 24 May 1992 | 13 Admorei Aleksander Street, Bnei Brak | ₪414,271 (2022) |
| Machon LeHotza'at Sefarim DeChasidei Aleksander (מכון להוצאת ספרים דחסידי אלכסנדר) | 580202364 | 24 May 1992 | 13 Admorei Aleksander Street, Bnei Brak | ₪255,802 (2023) |
| Gemach Ezer Nisuin – Tiferet Menachem DeChasidei Aleksander (גמ"ח "עזר נישואין - תפארת מנחם" דחסידי אלכסנדר) | 580284487 | 20 November 1996 | Bnei Brak | Struck off |
| Mosdot Tiferet HaRim – Merkaz Chasidei Aleksander BeBeitar Illit (מוסדות תפארת הרי"ם - מרכז חסידי אלכסנדר בביתר עילית) | 580486611 | 5 December 2007 | 16 Pnei Meirim Street, Beitar Illit | Struck off |
| Keren Ezra VeSiyua DeChasidei Aleksander Ltd (קרן עזרה וסיוע דחסידי אלכסנדר בע"מ), public benefit company | 513352054 | 11 March 2013 | 9 Eliyahu HaNavi Street, Bnei Brak | ₪88,012 |
| Beit Aleksander Yesodei HaTorah (בית אלכסנדר יסודי התורה) | 580657203 | 14 December 2017 | 10 Admorei Aleksander Street, Bnei Brak | ₪762,404 (2024) |
| Imrei Menachem Aleksander (אמרי מנחם אלכסנדר) | 580678696 | 12 March 2019 | 10 HaRav Maimon Street, Bnei Brak | ₪14,327,972 (2024) |
| Beit HaChasidim Aleksander Ashdod (בית החסידים אלכסנדר אשדוד) | 580688778 | 28 August 2019 | 24 Meir Baal HaNes Street, Ashdod | ₪284,039 (2024) |
| Kupat Ezer Nisuin DeChasidei Aleksander BeEretz HaKodesh (קופת עזר נישואין דחסידי אלכסנדר בארה"ק) | 580723237 | 8 June 2021 | 18 Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi Street, Modi'in Illit | ₪413,248 (2021) |
Two of these associations were registered in West Bank settlements. Kupat Ezer Nisuin DeChasidei Aleksander, a fund to help with wedding costs, is registered in Modi'in Illit.[4] The Applied Research Institute – Jerusalem (ARIJ) says Modi'in Illit was established in 1990 on land from the Palestinian villages of Ni'lin, Deir Qiddis, Bil'in, Al Midya and Kharbatha al-Misbah, 5,656 dunums in all, and that Israel declared it a city in 2008.[5] Mosdot Tiferet HaRim, described in its name as the centre of Aleksander Hasidim in Beitar Illit, was struck off the register in November 2020.[4] ARIJ says Beitar Illit was set up in 1985 on Palestinian-owned land from Husan (3,430 dunums), Nahhalin (688 dunums) and Wadi Fukin (567 dunums).[6] In its advisory opinion of 19 July 2024 the International Court of Justice found that Israel's transfer of settlers to the West Bank and East Jerusalem, and its maintenance of their presence there, is contrary to the sixth paragraph of article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention.[7]
United States
The IRS Business Master File for New York lists these tax-exempt organisations with Aleksander in their names. All are classed as churches.[8]
| Organisation | EIN | Address on IRS file | IRS ruling | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cong Talmidei Aleksander Inc | 45-3512221 | 694 Myrtle Avenue, Suite 432, Brooklyn, NY 11205 | July 2013 | Church[8] |
| Talmud Torah Tiferes Yechiel D'Aleksander Inc | 46-2067830 | 3810 14th Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11218 | June 2014 | Church; also listed as "Bnos Rochel D'Chasidei Aleksander"[8] |
| Beis Hamedresh Beis Yechiel D'Aleksander | 46-2681265 | 1720 57th Street, Brooklyn, NY 11204 | November 2014 | Church[8] |
| Congregation Talmidei Mesivta Tiferes Shmiel Aleksander | 47-1209151 | 1536 52nd Street, Brooklyn, NY 11219 | March 2015 | Church[8] |
| Cong Tiferes Shmiel Aleksander Monsey | 88-2873701 | 17 Vincent Road, Unit 111, Spring Valley, NY 10977 | February 2023 | Church[8] |
| Cong Chasidai Alexander | 93-4791065 | 4915 15th Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11219 | September 2024 | Church[8] |
No organisation with an Aleksander-dynasty name appears on the IRS automatic revocation list.[9]
United Kingdom
The Friends of Alexander Institutions Trust (registered charity 1055077, registered 1 May 1996) is a trust based at 39 Leweston Place, London N16 6RJ. The register says its principal activity is making grants to charities, in particular for the promotion of the Orthodox Jewish religion and religious education, operating throughout London and in Israel. Its trustees are Asher I Perelman (from 1 May 1996), Aryeh Piekarski and Isaac Freylich (both from 1 October 2021). In the year to 31 March 2025 its income was £1,105,926 and its spending £1,050,725.[10] The current register entry does not name the institutions it supports, and no source read for this page links it to the dynasty beyond its name.
See also
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 Morris M. Faierstein, Aleksander Hasidic Dynasty YIVO Encyclopedia of Jews in Eastern Europe, accessed 27 October 2026.
- ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 Rabbi G. Tannenbaum, 100th Yahrtzeit Of The Alexander Rebbe, Today, Being Marked In Poland Matzav.com, 15 January 2010, accessed 27 October 2026.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 David Koren, במחיצת צדיק: האדמו"ר מאלכסנדר • וידאו (in Hebrew) Behadrei Haredim, 9 March 2010, accessed 27 October 2026.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Registrar of Associations, Israeli Ministry of Justice, Register of associations and public benefit companies: search "אלכסנדר" data.gov.il, accessed 27 October 2026.
- ↑ Applied Research Institute – Jerusalem, While debating about settlements; "Israel declared the settlement of Modi'in 'Illit as the third Jewish city in the occupied West Bank" POICA, 5 May 2008, accessed 27 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 27 October 2026.
- ↑ International Court of Justice, Summary of the Advisory Opinion of 19 July 2024 icj-cij.org, 19 July 2024, accessed 27 October 2026.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 8.6 Internal Revenue Service, Exempt Organizations Business Master File Extract: New York irs.gov, 13 October 2026, accessed 27 October 2026.
- ↑ Internal Revenue Service, Automatic Revocation of Exemption List (data download) irs.gov, accessed 27 October 2026.
- ↑ Charity Commission for England and Wales, The Friends of Alexander Institutions Trust (1055077): full print Register of Charities, accessed 27 October 2026.