Slonim is a
Hasidicdynasty originating in the town of
Slonim, which is now in
Belarus.
Today, there are two Slonimer factions. Slonim, based in
Jerusalem, and the Slonim community in
Bnei Brak. They are two distinct groups today, and have many differences between them.
The first
Rebbe of Slonim, Rabbi Avraham Weinberg (1804–1883), was the author of Yesod HaAvodah.[1] In 1873, he sent a group of his grandchildren and other Hasidim to settle in
Ottoman Palestine; they set up their community in
Tiberias. Almost all of the Slonimer Hasidim in Europe perished at the hands of the
Nazis in the
Holocaust. The present-day Slonimer community was rebuilt from the Slonimer Hasidim who had settled in Israel.
Rabbi Moshe of
Kobrin (1784 - 1858), disciple of Rabbi Noah of Lechovitch
Rabbi Avraham of Slonim (1804 - 11 Cheshvan 1883), disciple of Rabbi Noah of Lechovitch and Rabbi Moshe of Kobrin, and first Rebbe of Slonim
Lineage of Slonimer Rebbes
Rabbi Avraham of Slonim (1804 - 11
Cheshvan 1883),[2] author of Yesod HaAvodah, first Slonmer Rebbe.
Rabbi Shmuel Weinberg (1850-1916) of Slonim, author of Divrei Shmuel, also known as the "Foter", grandson of the Rabbi Avraham, author of Yesod HaAvodah.
Rabbi Yissachar Leib Weinberg of Slonim (1873 - 1928), son of the Rabbi Shmuel, author of Divrei Shmuel.
Rabbi Avraham Yehoshua Heshel Weinberg of Slonim-
Tel Aviv, son of Rabbi Yissachar Leib.
Rabbi Noah Weinberg of Slonim and
Tiberias, grandson of the author of Yesod HaAvodah, brother of the author of Divrei Shmuel, a menahel of
YeshivaOr-Torah of Tiberias.
Rabbi Matisyohu of Slonim, grandson of the author of Yesod HaAvodah.
Rabbi Avraham Weinberg of Slonim (1884 - 1
Iyar 1933),[3] author of Beis Avraham, son of Grand Rabbi Shmuel.
Rabbi Shlomo David Yehoshua Weinberg of Slonim-Baranovitch (1912 – 1943),[4] son of the Beis Avraham.
Rabbi Mordechai Chaim of Slonim-Tiberias, grandson of the Yesod HaAvodah's brother, disciple of the Beis Avraham, successor of Rabbi Shlomo David Yehoshua Weinberg.
Rabbi Avraham Weinberg of Tiberias and Jerusalem (Rosh ChodeshTammuz 1889 - 12
Sivan 1981),[5] author of Birkas Avraham, son of Rabbi Noah, disciple and nephew of the Divrei Shmuel, successor of Rabbi Mordechai Chaim.
Rabbi Sholom Noach Berezovsky (1911-2000), Slonimer Rebbe of Jerusalem, author of Nesivos Shalom, son-in-law of the Birkas Avraham (R Avraham Weinberg). Worked diligently to reestablish Slonimer Hasidus from its small remnants after World War II. Published many Slonimer Hasidic books from original manuscripts and lost documents.
Rabbi Shmuel Berezovski, author of Darchei Noam, present Slonimer Rebbe of Jerusalem, son of the Nesivos Shalom.
Main Hasidic works of Slonim
In addition to those
works revered by all Hasidim, the Slonimer Hasidim particularly revere the following books: Yesod HaAvodah, "Toras Avos", Divrei Shmuel, Beis Avraham, Birkas Avraham.
The Slonimer rebbes of Jerusalem have also authored two tremendously popular
Hasidic works,
Nesivos Shalom, by the previous Slonimer Rebbe of Jerusalem, and Darchei Noam, by the present Slonimer Rebbe of Jerusalem.
Nesivos Shalom is extremely popular even outside of Hasidic circles.
Currently, in Israel, there reside approximately 1,900 families that follow the Slonimer Rebbe from Jerusalem.[6] In 2010, a dispute arose in
Immanuel, a Jewish settlement in the northern
West Bank, over the integration of
Ashkenazi Slonim girls in a school with
Sephardi girls from non-religious families. Over 120,000
Torah-observant Jews, including
Haredi and
Dati Leumi Jews, rallied in Israel to keep the groups separate, with the fathers of 40 girls being jailed for their refusal to comply. The families insisted it was not a "racial" issue, as 30% of those in the Hasidic track are Sephardic, and three fathers jailed were Sephardic, but, rather, that the "desire to remove their daughters from the influence of those less strict in their religious observance, watching
TV at home, having
access to the internet, and a more lax
dress code among the other track in the school have been cited".[7]