Rav Sholom Rokeach of Belz

Early years

Rav Sholom Rokeach of Belz zy"a, the Sar Sholom, founder of the Belzer dynasty, was born in Brody in 5539 (1779). His father, Rav Elozor Rokeach, was a talmid muvhak (primary student) of Rav Chaim Sanzer in the Kloiz of Chachmei Brody. The family traced its line through Rav Shmuel Shmelka, the Rav of the Tailors' Shul in Brody, and Rav Moshe Rokeach, Av Beis Din of Zlotshuv, to Rav Elazar Rokeach of Amsterdam, author of Maasei Rokeach, and back to Rav Eliezer Rokeach of Worms.

His mother, Rivka Henya, was the daughter of the mekubal (Kabbalist) Rav Yehudah Zundel Ramraz, one of the great chachamim of the Kloiz in Brody. Rav Yehudah Zundel's family traced its yichus to Rav Todros HaLevi Abulafia, author of Otzar HaKavod, and he was brother-in-law of Rav Yehudah Leib Bick, the wealthy gvir of Brody. Rav Sholom was the youngest of three sons. His older brothers were Rav Yaakov of Biritshuv and Rav Leibush of Berditchev, and he also had two sisters, Ella and Malka Devorah.

He was orphaned at a young age. After his mother remarried, he went to live with her brother, his uncle Rav Yissocher Dov, Av Beis Din of Skohl, under whose guidance he learned Gemara and halachah with great intensity.

His teachers

In Skohl lived Rav Shlomo Lutzker, one of the foremost talmidim of the Mezritcher Maggid and his personal secretary, who wrote down many of the Maggid's teachings. Rav Moshe Leib of Sassov testified that Rav Shlomo's place in the Maggid's household was lefnai velefnim, meaning he had private, one-on-one access. Rav Sholom attached himself to Rav Shlomo.

His father-in-law, a misnaged (opponent of Chassidus), objected to the relationship. It is told that Rav Sholom would slip out at night while his father-in-law slept, lowering himself out of the window by a rope with the help of his wife, Malka. After dawn he would return and find his devoted Rebbetzin waiting at the window to help him climb back up.

Rav Sholom then traveled to Lublin to meet the Chozeh, who welcomed the seventeen-year-old genius with great warmth. He also visited the Apta Rav and the Kozhnitzer Maggid. After the Chozeh, the Kozhnitzer Maggid and the Rymanover passed away in 5575 (1815), Rav Sholom continued to humble himself before others and traveled to Rav Uri of Strelisk, together with his children and sons-in-law.

After a period of devoting 1,000 days and nights to uninterrupted study of both the revealed and the hidden Torah, he emerged as a scholar of recognized stature.

Rebbe of Belz

When the Seraf of Strelisk passed away, Rav Sholom began to serve as a Rebbe. After 5586 (1826) he became known as the Sar Sholom and was one of the leading Rebbes, if not the leading Rebbe, of Galicia. Among those who came to be illuminated by his light were Rav Shlom Kaminka, Rav Chaim of Sanz, Rav Shimon of Yaruslov, Rav Yehoshua of Ostrov-Lentshena, Rav Meshulam Feivish of Berzhan, Rav Shlomo Zalman of Vilipoli, Rav Aryeh Leibush of Tomashuv, Rav Aryeh Leibush of Mashitzisk, Rav Chaim Meir Yechiel of Mogolnitza, Rav Dovid of Dynow and Rav Sholom Mordechai Schwadron of Brezhan. Young students and accomplished scholars flocked to him, and the foremost among them was Rav Shlomo Kluger of Brody.

In Belz, Rav Sholom blazed a new trail by joining excellence in Torah scholarship with the burning zeal of Chassidus. The mitnagdim had long charged that chassidim spent too much time in joyous gatherings with their Rebbes at the expense of learning. By insisting on the overriding importance of deep Torah study, the Sar Sholom removed that charge. He built a magnificent yeshivah and beis medrash in Belz, which became the spiritual center for tens of thousands of Belzer chassidim in Galicia.

Teachings and seforim

The Sar Sholom did not write down his Torah. Belzer teachings remained an oral tradition until Rav Yisroel Klapholtz gathered them and published the first volumes of Belzer Chassidus in stencil. Today several seforim, among them Midbar Kadesh, collect the Torah of the Sar Sholom and the later Belzer Rebbes, and a Hebrew volume on the Torah also records his discourses.

Later years and passing

The Sar Sholom passed away on 27 Elul 5615 (1855) and was succeeded by his youngest son, Rav Yehoshua. Rav Yehoshua explained the timing of his father's passing: the halachah is that a shliach tzibur (cantor) on the Yamim Noraim must prepare and separate himself from worldly things three days beforehand, and so the heavenly yeshivah called his father three days before Rosh Hashanah to serve as chazan.

Legacy

In the 1940s the splendor of Belz was nearly destroyed in the Holocaust. The scattered remnant of Belzer Chassidus, under the surviving scion of the dynasty, Rav Yissocher Dov, rebuilt Belz after the war. Today a Belzer yeshivah stands on the Yerushalayim skyline, and Belzer centers of learning are found in major cities across America, Israel and Europe, carrying on the path of the Sar Sholom.