Bobov (Hasidic dynasty)
Bobov (or Bobover Hasidism) (חסידות באבוב) is a Hasidic community within Haredi Judaism originating in Bobowa, Galicia, in southern Poland,[1] and now headquartered in the neighborhood of Borough Park in Brooklyn, New York.[2] Bobov has branches in[3] [1] the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn; Monsey, New York; Lakewood, New Jersey; Montreal; Toronto; Antwerp; and London.[4] In Israel, Bobov has large branches in Jerusalem, Bnei Brak, Ashdod, Elad, the settlement of Betar Illit, and an enclave Kiryas Bobov in Bat Yam.[5]
Outline of Bobov's Hasidic rabbinical lineage
Grand Rabbi Yisroel ben Eliezer Baal Shem Tov (1698–1760) founder of Hasidism | Grand Rabbi Dov Ber (1710–1772) the Maggid of Mezritch | Grand Rabbi Elimelech of Lizhensk (1717–1786) author of Noam Elimelech | Grand Rabbi Naftali Tzvi Horowitz of Ropshitz (1760–1827) author of Zera Kodesh | Grand Rabbi Chaim Halberstam of Sanz (1793–1876) author of Divrei Chaim | Rabbi Myer Noson Halberstam (1827–1855) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
3. Grand Rabbi Shlomo Halberstam (1907–2000) Third Bobover Rebbe author of Kerem Shlomo | 4. GRAND RABBI Naftali Tzvi Halberstam (1931–2005) Fourth Bobover Rebbe | Female Halberstam | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1. Grand Rabbi Shlomo Halberstam (1847–1905) First Bobover Rebbe author of Ateres Shlomo eldest grandson of the Divrei Chaim | 2. Grand Rabbi Ben Zion Halberstam (1874–1941) Second Bobover Rebbe author of Kedushas Tzion | 5. GRAND RABBI Ben Zion Aryeh Leibish Halberstam (b. 1955) Fifth (Current) Bobover Rebbe | RABBI Mordechai Dovid Unger (b. 1954) Current Bobov-45 Rebbe | Rabbi Yosef Unger Ruv of Beth Midrash Apirion Shel Shlome | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Female Halberstam | Female Halberstam | Female Rubin | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rabbi Chaim Yaakov Tauber Bobov Dayan | Rabbi Yehoshua Rubin (b. 1952) Bobov-45 Ruv | Rabbi Zvi Hirsh Rabinovich present Ruv Bobov-45 Monsey | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Female Halberstam | Female Rubin | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Teacher → Student | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Grand Rabbi Yonasan Binyamin Goldberger Rav of Bikofsk & present Rosh Hakolel of Bobov | Rabbi Meyer Yosef Eichenstein | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Father → Son | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Female Halberstam | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Husband ↔ Wife | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rabbi Ben Zion Blum Bobover Dayan of London | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Female Halberstam | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rabbi Yaakov Yisroel Meisles Bobover Ruv of Kiryath Bobov in Bat Yam | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Female Halberstam | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rabbi Boruch Avraham Horowitz present Rosh Yeshiva of Mesivta Eitz Chaim of Bobov | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rabbi Baruch Dovid Halberstam Sorvosher Ruv | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rabbi Chaim Yehoshua Halberstam | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Grand Rabbi Yaakov Yosef Halberstam Ruv of Beis Chaim Yehoshua | Grand Rabbi Chaim Yehoshua Halberstam Rebbe of Satmar in Monsey | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Grand Rabbi Yechiel Halberstam Pokshivnitzer Rebbe of Monsey, NY | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Grand Rabbi Yechezkel Dovid Halberstam Pokshivnitzer Rebbe | Grand Rabbi Chaim Halberstam Pokshivnitzer Rebbe of Flatbush | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Grand Rabbi Ben Zion Avraham Halberstam Pokshivnitzer Rav of Flatbush | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Grand Rabbi Shloime Halberstam Pokshivnitzer Rebbe of Lakewood, New Jersey | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
History
First Rebbe of Bobov
![](../I/m/Bobov_S1.jpg)
Bobov originated with Rabbi Shlomo Halberstam who was the grandson of Grand Rabbi Chaim Halberstam of Sanz,[6] in the Galician village of Bobowa.[1]
While most of the early yeshivos ("Talmudical academies") originated in Lithuania, the 19th century saw the opening of similar institutions in Poland. The first yeshiva in Poland was established by the first Bobover Rebbe in 1881 in Vishnitsa where he was rabbi then; and it later moved with him to Bobov.
Second rebbe of Bobov
His work was continued by his son, Grand Rabbi Ben Zion Halberstam, author of Kedushas Tzion.[7] The Bobov Yeshiva was originally situated only in the town of Bobov itself. However, under his guidance, the Chasidus grew in numbers, with Hasidic youth flocking to Bobov. Subsequently, as many as sixty branches of the Yeshiva under the name Eitz Chaim were established throughout Galicia.
During World War II, the Bobov Hasidic movement was destroyed. The second Rebbe himself died in the Holocaust,(1874 - 1941/3 Menachem Av, HY"D) together with family members[1] and thousands of his followers.
Third Rebbe of Bobov
Barely 300 chasidim survived, and the Rebbe's son Rabbi Shlomo Halberstam took it upon himself to rebuild Bobov.[8] He first settled in the West Side of Manhattan, later moving to Bedford-Stuyvesant in Brooklyn. The Yeshiva was located on the west side of Brooklyn Avenue at 184 Brooklyn Avenue between Park Place and Prospect Place; it later moved to Borough Park. Rabbi Shlomo was known as a very wise man and a gaon in midos (giant in good manners/attributes). He was noted for his steadfastness in not taking sides in disputes. This brought him great popularity and respect.
Over the more than fifty years[9][8] that Rabbi Shlomo was Rebbe of Bobov, he founded and built a vast network of synagogues, Hasidic schools for boys and girls,[10] high schools (mesivtas), and post-high school houses of learning. Besides schools, a summer camp for boys was founded in 1957 in the Catskills' Ferndale, New York, and a girls camp, Camp Gila, was founded a couple years later. These institutions span the globe. At the time of his death in August 2000, he was mourned by more followers than his father had in pre-war Poland. His Hebrew date of death was the first of Av, the same as that of Aharon (Aaron), the Biblical High Priest (Numbers 33:38), which was noted by many for their similar characteristics of "loving peace" (Oheiv Sholom Veroidef Sholom - Loved peace and pursued peace) (Pirkei Ovos 1:12).
Fourth Rebbe of Bobov
With Rabbi Shlomo Halberstam's death, his son Rabbi Naftali Zvi Halberstam succeeded him. Rabbi Naftali Zvi died on March 23, 2005[1] (12th of Adar II, 5765), at age seventy-four, leaving a wife, two daughters, and two sons-in-law: one Rabbi Yehoshua Rubin Rav of Bobov-45 and the other Mordechai Dovid Unger.Rabbi of bobov-45
Fifth Rebbe of Bobov
After Grand Rabbi Naftali Tzvi Halberstam of Bobov died in 2005, a dispute arose[11] among Bobover Hasidim as to who should succeed the dynasty leadership; the majority preferred Grand Rabbi Ben Zion Aryeh Leibish Halberstam, while a small group of people preferred Rabbi Mordechai Dovid Unger, the son-in-law of the late Rebbe. For seven years, while a prolonged arbitration proceeding at a beth din was going on, both groups claimed the rightful Bobov leadership. After seven years of deliberation, the beth din ruled among other decisions regarding assets, that the Grand Rabbi Ben Zion Aryeh Leibish Halberstam, half brother of the previous Rebbe,[4] is the only Bobover Rebbe. However, the ruling allowed Rabbi Mordechai Dovid Unger to call himself a Rabbi of a different name from Bobov,[12] so he chose Bobov-45.
Important Bobover literature
In addition to those books revered by all Hasidim, the Bobover Hasidim particularly treasure Kedushas Tzion by the second Bobover Rebbe (published by the third Bobover Rebbe), Likutei Kerem Shlomo and Divrei Shlomo by the third Bobover Rebbe, and "Imrei Koidesh" weekly booklets of the Torah thoughts of the present Bobover Rebbe.
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 "Naftali Halberstam Dies at 74; Bobov Hasidim's Grand Rabbi". The New York Times. March 25, 2005.
- ↑ Mintz, Jerome (1998). Hasidic People. Harvard University Press. p. 120. ISBN 9780674041097.
- ↑ "There are also Bobover communities in Canada, England, Israel and elsewhere.
- 1 2 London,UK - "Chasidey Bobov-45 Beth Hamedrash" - " (The congregation should not be confused with the Beth Hemedrash of Kehal Chasidei Bobov of Egerton Road N16, which follows the leadership of the half brother of the Fourth Bobover Rebbe.) "Bobov Synagogue, Clapton Common, London". JCR-UK Jewish Communities & Records.
- ↑ Tzvi Rabinowicz (2000). Hasidism in Israel: A History of the Hasidic Movement. ISBN 0765760681.
- ↑ "We Are the King's Children". Torah.org. June 7, 2002.
- ↑ "The Second Bobover Rebbe, Rabbi Ben Zion bar Shlomo Halberstam, was born in 1874 (5634) in the village of Bikofsk, Galicia. His family moved to Bobov and, ... "19 km from Auschwitz. The Story of Trzebinia". YadVaShem.org.
- 1 2 " .. had been all but wiped out by the Nazi Holocaust. Virtually single-handedly Rabbi Shlomo Halberstam, who has died aged 92, revived it. "Rabbi Shlomo Halberstam". TheGuardian.com. September 1, 2000.
- ↑ pre-WW II thru '00
- ↑ "Grand Rabbi Solomon Halberstam". August 17, 2000.
- ↑ https://www.vosizneias.com/43572/2009/11/23/borough-park-ny-bobov-dispute-heads-into-final-stage-at-din-torah-not-secular-court/
- ↑ https://www.dropbox.com/s/hhgrhlpcyq1jg4s/bobov%20psd.pdf?dl=0