ר׳ ישכר דב רוקח

ר׳ ישכר דב רוקח (born 1948) is the fifth Belzer Rebbe and the leader responsible for the postwar consolidation and global expansion of Belz Hasidism. Born in Tel Aviv to ר׳ מרדכי רוקח of Bilgoray and Miriam, he was the nephew of ר׳ אהרן רוקח, the fourth Belzer Rebbe, who became his guardian after his father died in 1949. Following ר׳ אהרן’s death in 1957, the child was recognized as the dynasty’s future leader but did not assume active leadership until 1966. In 1965 he married Sarah, daughter of ר׳ משה יהושע הגר of Vizhnitz, and lived for a period near the Vizhnitz court in Bnei Brak. As rebbe he rebuilt the educational, communal and welfare network of Belz in Israel, Europe and North America. The movement’s institutional centre shifted decisively to Jerusalem, where the immense Belz Great Synagogue was dedicated in 2000 after years of construction. He is a member of Agudat Israel’s Council of Torah Sages. His oral discourses and teachings are preserved in Belz publications including אמרי קודש; they should be distinguished from similarly titled works of earlier Belzer rebbes. He remains the serving Belzer Rebbe, so his death year is correctly null.