Jews from all over the world prayed in Belz

On April 16 approximately four thousand Hasid pilgrims arrived in the town of Belz in Sokal raion, Lviv oblast. They went on pilgrimage to the tombs of the three wonder-working tsadik rabbis who were buried there. This is the first mass pilgrimage of Hasid Jews in Belz in all the years of Ukraine’s independence.

“The large number of Hasid Jews is related to the fact that the grandson of the chief rabbi in Belz is having a wedding in two months. He personally came here from Israel to pray at the graves of ancestors for the happy life of the newlyweds. Hasid Jews come to the graves of rabbis once every two years. However, in previous years only a few hundred of them came here,” said the director of Belz State Historical and Cultural Reserve Ivan KALYSH.

Hasid Jews prayed for the souls of their saints in the old cemetery and the site of the former synagogue. Near the site of the former synagogue they managed to restore mikvah, a baptismal font. Chief Rabbi of the World Center of Belz Hasid Jews in Jerusalem sanctified it and bathed there with his entourage. After that the traditional festivities began.

Belz became the center of Hasidism in Galicia back in the 19th century. One of the main representatives of this movement there was a tsadik Sholom Rokeach, Sar Shalom (Angel of Peace), disciple of Yaakov Yitzchak the Chozeh (clairvoyant) of Lublin. He was the rabbi of Belz in the 1817-55. Since then the title of tsadik was passed on in the family of Rokeach from father to son and Hasid Jews would come to the city. Sholom Rokeach and his family are buried in the Jewish cemetery of Belz. According to the legend, large synagogue was built in Belz according to the design of Rokeach. The synagogue became a sacred place for Jews around the world and it is generally believed that Messiah (the anointed of God) had to descent from heaven to this synagogue to save his people.

Belz was a Ukrainian-Jewish town the so-called shtetl. But during the Second World War many Jews were killed, deported, and some managed to escape. Great Synagogue was completely destroyed.