Klausenburg (Hasidic dynasty)

The Klausenburger Rebbes are descended from Rabbi Chaim Halberstam of Sanz, who was a disciple of Rabbi Naftoli Tzvi of Ropshitz. Rabbi Naftoli was a disciple of Rebbe Elimelech of Lizhensk author of Noam Elimelech. Rebbe Elimelech was a disciple of Rebbe Dovber, the Maggid (Preacher) of Mezritch, the primary disciple of the Baal Shem Tov, the founder of Hasidism. ==History==

The Klausenburger dynasty was founded by Rabbi Yekusiel Yehudah Halberstam in 1927, when he assumed the position of rabbi of Klausenburg, the capital city of Transylvania in western Romania. Halberstam was the great-grandson of Rabbi Chaim of Sanz, founder of the Sanz Hasidic dynasty. Yekusiel Yehudah Halberstam grew up in Rudnik, Poland. In the Holocaust about 85% of the community was murdered, including Halberstam's wife and eleven children. He emerged as a leader in the displaced persons camps in Europe as he created a communal survivors organization called She'aris Hapleitah ("the surviving remnant"), which operated religious schools for boys and girls and yeshivas for young men in 19 different DP camps, as well as religious services. In 1947, he emigrated to America and established his court in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn. In 1957 he established the Kiryat Sanz neighborhood in the beachside city of Netanya, Israel. He moved to Kiryat Sanz in 1960. In 1968, he founded yet another Sanz community in Union City, New Jersey, and afterwards divided his time between that community and his residence in Netanya. Halberstam died on June 18, 1994, and was buried in Netanya. In his will, he divided leadership of the Klausenburger Hasidim between his two sons (both born in his second marriage after World War II). His elder son, Zvi Elimelech Halberstam, became the Sanz-Klausenburger Rebbe (also called Sanzer Rebbe) of Netanya, and Shmuel Dovid Halberstam became the Sanz-Klausenburger Rebbe of Brooklyn. ==Leadership==

• Grand Rabbi Tzvi Elimelech Halberstam is the Sanz-Klausenburger Rebbe in (Kiryat Sanz, Netanya,) Israel • Rabbi Yechezkel Shraga Boruch Halberstam, son of Rabbi Zvi Elimelech, is ''Rav haTso'ir'' • Grand Rabbi Shmuel Dovid Halberstam, is the Sanz-Klausenburger Rebbe in Borough Park, The Rebbe's sons-in-law are: • The Late Grand Rabbi Shlomo Goldman, the Zhviller Rebbe, of Union City, NJ • Rabbi Berel Weiss, Rav of Kiryat Sanz, Jerusalem • Rabbi Fishel Mutzen, Rav of Kiryat Baal Shem Tov in Petah Tikva • Rabbi Shaul Yehuda Prizant, Rav of the Sanz-Klausenburg community in Union City, New Jersey; and rosh mesivta Yeshivat Shaar Efraim Monsey • Rabbi Eliezer Duvid Shapiro, Rav of the Sanz community in Bnei Brak In contrast to the custom among many Rebbes, the Klausenburger Rebbe did not take sons-in-law exclusively from rabbinic families; rather, he chose the best students of his yeshiva to marry his daughters. The only exception was Rabbi Shlomo Goldman, an accomplished Torah scholar even in his youth, who is the son of the previous Zhviller Rebbe in Israel. Other prominent figures in Sanz-Klausenburg are: • Rabbi Fishel Hershkowitz, the Holeiner Rov, is the Sanz-Klausenburger Dayan in Williamsburg • Rabbi Aaron Weider, the Linzer Rav (d. 2010), was a long-standing dayan of the Sanz-Klausenburger rabbinical court in America. His daughter Tzipora married Grand Rabbi Shmuel Dovid Halberstam • Rabbi Paskez, a long-time Rebbi in Yeshiva Torah Vodaas who was the Segan (assistant) of Rabbi Aaron Wieder, is the current Dayan in Boro Park. • Rabbi Eliyahu Shmuel Schmerler, rosh yeshiva of the Sanz yeshiva in Kiryat Sanz, Netanya ==References==