Vien (Hasidic community)

Last updated

Vien (וויען) is an American Haredi Kehilla (community) originating in present-day Vienna. The name of their congregation is "Kehal Adas Yereim Vien" (קהל עדת יראים וויען) (translation: Congregation of the Reverent, Vienna).

Contents

History

Kehal Adas Yereim Vien was formally established on Sunday, May 25, 1941 [1] by Rabbi Klonumos Richter. [2] It traces its origins from a congregation of Oberlander Jews who had moved from Burgenland, Austria (primarily from the " Sheva Kehillos "), Slovakia and Hungary ('The Oberland') to Vienna (headquartering itself in the renowned Schiffschul) and then on to Williamsburg under the leadership of Rabbi Yonasan Steif.

Subsequent leaders

Rabbi Yonasan Steif died in 1958, and was succeeded by Rabbi Ezriel Yehuda Lebowitz (the Hudhazer Rov). After his death on the first day of Rosh Hashana 1991, he was succeeded as Viener Rav by Rabbi Asher Anshel Katz.

Growth of the Kehilla and the transition to Hasidism

While the original Viener Kehilla strictly adhered to the customs of Ashkenazi and Yekkish Jews, during the past 40 years there has been a major shift to Hasidic customs among most members of the group due to the proximity and political dominance of Hasidism in their neighborhoods of Williamsburg and Borough Park in Brooklyn, New York.

Some of the most notable differences of the pre-Hasidic Vien were:

Today, while there are still very few who follow the old Viener way, the vast majority switched and are similar to other Hasidic sects in every way. Other Hungarian Hasidic sects that underwent very similar transitions include Nitra, Kashau, and Tzehlim.

Present

The current Rav, Rabbi Asher Anshel Katz, took the Viener Kehilla to new heights by expanding all of its existing institutions and by adding many new branches. Prior to his appointment, Rabbi Katz was the Rav of the Szombathely shul in Williamsburg which was established by his late father, Rabbi Yehoshua Katz, who arrived in America after World War II from Szombathely, Hungary.

Viener Yeshivah

Rabbi Ezriel Yehuda Lebowitz (Hudhazer Rov) founded the Mesivta Nachlas Yakov, which came to be one of the leading yeshivos in the United States, which consistently counted more than 150 rabbinical students.[ citation needed ]

Ivuhem Nehega

Ivuhem Nehega is a Torah learning program. All members of the Kehilla learn each day the same page of Gemara, on seder HaShas, and at the end of each month there is an option to take a written test on the pages learned that month. Testing centers are located in Williamsburg; Borough Park; Monsey, New York; Lakewood, New Jersey; and Israel. This program is modeled after the popular program Dirshu. This program brings together all of the members of the Kehilla, young and old in one learning program, with over 600 active participants. The current Rav stated that Ivuhem Nehege is his most precious program of the Kehilla.

Each year there is a grand Siyum celebration that draws close to one thousand participants.

Main books of the Viener Rabbonim

Rabbi Yonasan Steif wrote numerous books, including:

Rabbi Ezriel Yehuda Lebowitz wrote:

Rabbi Asher Katz Wrote:

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Siddur</span> Jewish prayerbook

A siddur is a Jewish prayer book containing a set order of daily prayers. The word siddur comes from the Hebrew root ס־ד־ר‎, meaning 'order.'

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yitzchak Hutner</span> American rabbi (1906–1980)

Yitzchak Hutner, also known as Isaac Hutner, was an American Orthodox rabbi and rosh yeshiva (dean).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shneur Zalman of Liadi</span> Hasidic rabbi and first rebbe of Chabad

Shneur Zalman of Liadi was a rabbi and the founder and first Rebbe of Chabad, a branch of Hasidic Judaism. He wrote many works, and is best known for Shulchan Aruch HaRav, Tanya, and his Siddur Torah Or compiled according to the Nusach Ari.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vizhnitz (Hasidic dynasty)</span> Ukrainian Hasidic dynasty

Vizhnitz is the name of a Hasidic dynasty founded by Rabbi Menachem Mendel Hager. Vizhnitz is the Yiddish name of Vyzhnytsia, a town in present-day Ukraine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Moses Sofer</span> Orthodox rabbi

Moses Schreiber (1762–1839), known to his own community and Jewish posterity in the Hebrew translation as Moshe Sofer, also known by his main work Chatam Sofer, Chasam Sofer, or Hatam Sofer, was one of the leading Orthodox rabbis of European Jewry in the first half of the nineteenth century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nadvorna (Hasidic dynasty)</span> Ukrainian Hasidic dynasty

Nadvorna is a Hasidic rabbinical dynasty deriving its name from the town of Nadvorna, (Nadvirna), today in Ukraine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elazar Shach</span> Haredi rabbi (1899-2001)

Elazar Menachem Man Shach was a Haredi rabbi who headed Misnagdim Orthodox Jews in Israel and around the world from the early 1970s until his death. He served as chair of the Council of Sages and one of three co-deans of the Ponevezh Yeshiva in Bnei Brak, along with Shmuel Rozovsky and Dovid Povarsky. Due to his differences with the Hasidic leadership of the Agudat Yisrael political party, he allied with Ovadia Yosef, with whom he founded the Shas party in 1984. Later, in 1988, Shach criticized Ovadia Yosef, saying that, "Sepharadim are not yet ready for leadership positions", and subsequently founded the Degel HaTorah political party representing the Litvaks in the Israeli Knesset.

Dushinsky is one of the few Hasidic dynasties not named after the place where it originated; instead, it is named after the rebbe's surname. It is relatively new, and became a dynasty in Jerusalem, where it is centered today. Unlike other Hasidic groups, it does not originate from a Hasidic background, but from the talmidim (students) of Moses Sofer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Soltvadkert</span> Place in Bács-Kiskun, Hungary

Soltvadkert is a town in Bács-Kiskun County in Hungary with approximately 8,000 inhabitants. The former name of the town is Vadkert. It is surrounded by several areas of Kiskunság National Park and Lake Vadkert.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah</span> Rabbinical council of the Agudat Yisrael and Degel HaTorah

Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah is the supreme rabbinical policy-making council of the Agudat Yisrael and Degel HaTorah movements in Israel; and of Agudath Israel of America in the United States. Members are usually prestigious Roshei Yeshiva or Hasidic rebbes, who are also usually regarded by many Haredi Jews to be the Gedolim ("great/est") sages of Torah Judaism. Before the Holocaust, it was the supreme authority for the World Agudath Israel in Europe.

For the purposes of this article, “contemporary” refers to the period from 1967 to the present day, “Jewish” refers to the various streams and traits of Judaism practiced. Many Orthodox Jews use the term “religious” to refer to a strict adherence to Jewish law. For the purposes of this article, “religious” refers to the content and context of the music itself: liturgical or implicit references to the divine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Central Rabbinical Congress</span> Rabbinical organization

The Central Rabbinical Congress is a rabbinical organization that is a consortium of various Haredi Jewish groups, with offices in Brooklyn, New York.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Schiffschul</span> Building in Vienna, Austria

Khal Adas Yisroel, usually referred to as the Schiff Shul, was the main Orthodox synagogue in Vienna prior to the Holocaust. The synagogue no longer exists since it was destroyed by the Nazis on Kristallnacht. A building that was adjacent to the Schiffshul and was part of its complex remains.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mendel Weinbach</span>

Chona Menachem Mendel (Mendel) Weinbach was an Orthodox Jewish rabbi, educator, author, and speaker. As the co-founder and dean of Ohr Somayach Institutions, a Jerusalem-based yeshiva for newly-observant Jewish men, he was considered one of the fathers of the modern-day baal teshuva movement.

Erlau, is a Haredi dynasty of Hungarian origin, which follows the teachings of the Chasam Sofer and is often considered Hasidic.

In Jewish law, a posek is a legal scholar who determines the application of halakha, the Jewish religious laws derived from the written and Oral Torah in cases of Jewish law where previous authorities are inconclusive, or in those situations where no clear halakhic precedent exists.

Musar literature is didactic Jewish ethical literature which describes virtues and vices and the path towards character improvement. This literature gives the name to the Musar movement, in 19th century Lithuania, but this article considers such literature more broadly.

Vien (וויען) is a Rabbinical hasidic dynasty originating in present-day Vienna. The previous rav of Vien was Rav Chaim Z. Hersh Zegelbaum of Brooklyn, New York. He was a descendant of Rav Menachem Mendel Stern (1759–1834) of Sighet, author of Derech Emunah.

Melitz was a Galician Hassidic dynastic sect, a branch of the Ropshitz Hasidic sect. The progenitor of the dynasty was Rabbi Ya'akov Horowitz, the son of Rabbi Naftali Zvi Horowitz of Ropshitz.

References

  1. The Jewish Press
  2. Interview on April 25, 2009 in Brooklyn, NY with Eli Richter - son of Karl Richter