Twelve-year-old Issacher Dov “Berele” Rokeach will be named the new Belzer Rebbe when he reaches the age of 18, it was decided here today at a meeting of some 2,000 Belzer Hassidim, including 100 delegates from overseas.
The meeting was convened to coincide with the third anniversary of the death of Rabbi Aaron Rokeach, the late Belzer Rebbe. The Belzer dynasty dates back four centuries and was named for Belz, the town in Poland where the rabbinic family lived.
The Hassidim also decided to raise $250,000 to enlarge the Belzer Yeshiva in Jerusalem and to construct a new synagogue building here to honor the late Rebbe. The speakers, all of whom stressed the need for strengthening the Belzer influence throughout world Jewry, included Rabbi Moses Shapiro, head of the American Belzer Hasidim.
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