Belz is a Hasidic dynasty founded in the town of Belz in Western Ukraine, near the Polish border, historically the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland. The group was founded in the early 19th century by Rabbi Shalom Rokeach, also known as the Sar Shalom, and led by his son, Rabbi Yehoshua Rokeach, and grandson, Rabbi Yissachar Dov, and great-grandson, Rabbi Aharon, before the Nazi invasion of Poland in 1939. While Aharon managed to escape Europe, together with his brother Rabbi Mordechai Rokeach, most of the Belz Hasidim were murdered in the Holocaust. Aharon re-established the Hasidic community in Israel following World War II. As of the 2020s, Belz has sizable communities in Israel, Western Europe, and the Anglosphere.
Aharon Rokeach was the fourth Rebbe of the Belz Hasidic dynasty. He led the movement from 1926 until he died in 1957.
Yissachar Dov Rokeach is the fifth, and present, Rebbe of the Hasidic dynasty of Belz. He is the son of Rabbi Mordechai of Bilgoray, the grandson of the third Belzer Rebbe, Rabbi Yissachar Dov Rokeach, and the nephew of the fourth Belzer Rebbe, Rabbi Aharon Rokeach, who raised him. He has led Belz since 1966.
Rabbi Yehoshua Rokeach, known as the Mitteler Ruv, was the second Rebbe of the Belz Hasidic dynasty. He combined Torah scholarship with practical common sense to guide thousands of Hasidim and to fight the Haskalah ("Enlightenment") movement that was making inroads in Jewish communities in Poland during the nineteenth century. His pioneering activities included founding the Machzikei Hadas organization.
Yissachar Dov Rokeach was the third Rebbe of the Belz Hasidic dynasty. He was the second son of Rabbi Yehoshua Rokeach, and served as the third Belzer Rebbe from his father's death in 1894 until his own death in 1926.
Reuven Pinchas Bulka was a Canadian rabbi, writer, broadcaster, and activist. He was the spiritual leader of Congregation Machzikei Hadas in Ottawa from 1967, first as Rabbi and then, starting in 2015, as Rabbi Emeritus. He served as co-president of the Canadian Jewish Congress from 2007 to 2009. Bulka's work with Kind Canada led to the recognition of the third week of February every year as "Kindness Week" in Canada.
Har HaMenuchot is the largest cemetery in Jerusalem. The hilltop burial ground lies at the western edge of the city adjacent to the neighborhood of Givat Shaul, with commanding views of Mevaseret Zion to the north, Motza to the west, and Har Nof to the south. Opened in 1951 on 300 dunams of land, it has continually expanded into new sections on the northern and western slopes of the hill. As of 2008, the cemetery encompasses 580 dunams in which over 150,000 people are buried.
The Belz Great Synagogue is one of the largest synagogues in Israel. It was built by the Belz Hasidic community with financial help from its supporters and admirers around the world.
The history of the Jews in Antwerp, a major city in the modern country of Belgium, goes back at least eight hundred years. Jewish life was first recorded in the city in the High Middle Ages. While the Jewish population grew and waned over the centuries, by the beginning of World War II Antwerp had a thriving Jewish community comprising some 35,000, with many Jews connected to the city's diamond industry. The Nazi occupation of Antwerp from 1940 and The Holocaust decimated the city’s Jewish population. By the time of Antwerp's liberation in September 1944, the Jewish population had fallen to around 1,200.
The Rabbi Jacob Joseph School is an Orthodox Jewish day school located in Staten Island, New York that serves students from nursery through twelfth grade, with another branch in Edison, New Jersey. The school was founded in 1903 by Rabbi Shmuel Yitzchok Andron and named in honor of Rabbi Jacob Joseph, chief rabbi of New York City's Association of American Orthodox Hebrew Congregations.
Shimon Sofer was a prominent Austrian Orthodox Jewish rabbi in the 19th century. He was Chief Rabbi of Kraków, Poland after serving as Chief Rabbi of Mattersdorf. He was the second son of Rabbi Moshe Sofer of Pressburg.
Beit Tikvah, officially Congregation Beit Tikvah Ottawa, abbreviated as CBTO, is a Modern Orthodox synagogue located in the Nepean district of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, serving the Craig Henry area.
Young Israel of Ottawa is an Orthodox synagogue located in Westboro, a suburb of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It is a warm and close-knit congregation that provides a full array of religious services, adult classes and family programming open to all Jews in Ottawa.
Adath Shalom, officially Adath Shalom Congregation of Ottawa, is a Conservative synagogue located in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It has been egalitarian and lay-led since 1978. It is affiliated with the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism. All Adath Shalom members - men, women and teenagers - lead the services as well as weekly discussion of the Torah portion.
Ottawa Torah Institute is a Yeshiva high school located in Ottawa providing secular and Judaic education. Founded in 1982 as a boys' school, it is Ottawa's first and only full-time Jewish high school. In 1990 the high school expanded to include a girls' division, known as Machon Sarah. Graduates from Ottawa Torah Institute earn an Ontario Secondary School Diploma.
Idan Scher is rabbi of Congregation Machzikei Hadas, a modern orthodox synagogue in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. He was installed as the congregation's next spiritual leader in 2015 making him the youngest senior rabbi of a synagogue this size in all of Canada at the time. Rabbi Scher serves as a vice-president at the Rabbinical Council of America and is a representative of the Canadian Rabbinic Council.
