Aharon Mordechai Rokeach


Aharon Mordechai Rokeach is the only child and heir of the current Rebbe of Belz, Rabbi Yissachar Dov Rokeach. Born in Jerusalem, Israel, he was named after his father's uncle, Rabbi Aharon Rokeach, the fourth Belzer Rebbe, and his father's father, Rabbi Mordechai of Bilgoray.

Family background

Aharon Mordechai was born to Rabbi Yissachar Dov Rokeach and Sarah Hager, daughter of Rabbi Moshe Yehoshua Hager, the future Vizhnitzer Rebbe, after 10 years of marriage. His birth was a cause for great celebration in the Belz Hasidic dynasty, as it meant that the dynasty would continue to be passed down within the Rokeach family line. His father, Rabbi Yissachar Dov, was also an only child, born in 1948 to Rabbi Mordechai of Bilgoray after the latter's escape from Nazi-occupied Europe with his half-brother, Rabbi Aharon. Rabbi Mordechai died suddenly a year after his son's birth, and the boy was raised and groomed to be the next Rebbe by his uncle, Rabbi Aharon, who died in 1957. Rabbi Yissachar Dov was crowned Rebbe in 1966.

Biography

Each milestone in Aharon Mordechai's life was celebrated by thousands of Belzer Hasidim. The occasion of his bar mitzvah on 18 October 1988 prompted a mass gathering of Hasidim in the half-finished Belz Great Synagogue in Jerusalem, followed by a Belzer convention that filled the Jerusalem Convention Center.
On July 7, 1992, Aharon Mordechai was engaged to Sarah Leah Lemberger, daughter of Rabbi Shimon Lemberger, Makova Rebbe in Kiryat Ata. They were married on August 3, 1993, in Kiryat Belz, Jerusalem, in the presence of 60,000 people. The couple has ten sons and three daughters.

Family, eldest son's bar mitzvah and marriage

The bar mitzvah of Aharon Mordechai's eldest son was also cause for tremendous celebration in Belz. Sholom, named after the first Belzer Rebbe, the Sar Sholom, celebrated his bar mitzvah on 26 February 2008. The bar mitzvah tish was conducted by the Belzer Rebbe in the presence of thousands of Hasidim and dozens of other Rebbes and Torah leaders. As the Belz Great Synagogue was not large enough for the crowd, a giant tent with bleachers was erected out in the courtyard. Festive meals and other events were held for the women in all five halls of the Jerusalem Convention Center.
On 21 May 2013 their eldest son, Sholom Rokeach, married Hana Batya Panneth in a ceremony at the Belz Great Synagogue that was attended by tens of thousands of guests and well-wishers. A daughter was born to the young couple on 4 May 2014.
The names of the rest of the children are as follows:
In the late 2000s Rokeach began assuming more responsibilities given to him by his father, the Belzer Rebbe. He currently serves as the chairman of the educational board of all Belzer institutions and makes many fund-raising trips abroad on his father's behalf.