Belz (Hasidic dynasty)

Belz Hasidic Dynasty
The synagogue in Belz, dedicated in 1843, destroyed by the Nazis in 1939
Total population
over 7,000 families (2022)
Founder
Rabbi Shalom Rokeach
Regions with significant populations
Israel, Western Europe, the Anglosphere
Religions
Hasidic Judaism

Belz (Yiddish: בעלזא) 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.

The third Belzer Rebbe, Yissachar Dov Rokeach
Section of Belz Rebbes in Belz