Many people may have heard about, seen pictures of or visited the Dohany Street Synagogue in Budapest. It is absolutely magnificent in the richness of its details, sumptuosity and grandeur. I always thought it was the world’s largest synagogue, but I was wrong.
As you drive into Jerusalem, when coming from Tel Aviv, you are able to see in the skyline a huge building. This building doesn’t have any remarkable architectonic features other than its size. One would never guess that it is a synagogue. Belz Beit HaMidrash HaGadol (The Belzer Hassidim Great Synagogue) is located in the ultra-Orthodox neighborhood of Kyriat Sanz. This humongous building is an enlarged replica of the synagogue built in 1843 by the first Belzer Rebbe. It is composed of a grandiose main sanctuary, smaller study halls, party rooms for weddings, several libraries and other communal facilities. Next door to it is the home of the current Belzer Rebbe Yissachar Dov Rokeach. This synagogue, dedicated in 2000, took 15 years to complete. Curiously, I found out that it took the same amount of time to complete the original one in Belz back in 1843. I was amazed to learn that 6,000 people can sit and worship in the main sanctuary at once. Apparently that was not big enough, because the sanctuary is currently being enlarged. The very ornate ark inside the sanctuary is 12 meters high and weighs 18 tons. It has the capacity to hold 70 Torah scrolls!
Belz was made famous by the Yiddish song, my Shtetele Belz, whose refrain is known to anyone that grew up with Eastern European relatives:
Oy, oy, oy Beltz, mayn shtetele Beltz,
Mayn heymele, vu ikh hob
Mayne kindershe yorn farbrakht.
Beltz, mayn shtetele Beltz,
In ormen shtibele,
Mit ale kinderlekh dort gelakht.
Oy, eden Shabes fleg ikh loyfn
Mit ale inglekh tzuglaykh
Tzu zitzn unter dem grinem beymele,
Leynen bay dem taikh
Oy oy oy Beltz,
Mayn shtetele Beltz,
Mayn heymele, vu kh’hob gehat
Di sheyne khaloymes a sakh.
Beltz, my little town! The little house where I spent my childhood!
The poor little room where I used to laugh with other children!
Every Shabbos I would run to the river bank to play with other children under a little green tree.
Belz, my little town!
My little town where I had so many fine dreams!
During our visit to Jerusalem a few months ago, I was determined to see the synagogue from the inside. I tried to get in and couldn’t. Through a little ingenuity and persistence I managed to get one of the young Chassidim to show me around. We were very lucky because we not only got a great tour, but I was also able to gain insight and knowledge about my new-found friend. As I grilled the young man about his lifestyle I found out that he was a newlywed. He had just come in from London to get married and was enjoying a year of kest, a Chassidic tradition by which the new husband is maintained by his in-laws for a year (or more) to study. As his year of kest was coming to an end, my new friend was extremely worried about how he would make a living, mainly because he had no secular knowledge. I discussed several ideas with him and at the end of the tour gave him a small token of my appreciation for his time and kindness. I am sure that it was a novel experience for both of us; he had never met a Reform Jew before and I had never spoken with a Belz Chassid.
As we were walking toward our car, I could not help but think that this synagogue is a true wonder not only because of its size but because the Belz Chassidic sect was almost totally decimated after the Holocaust. Yet the existence of this massive synagogue is proof of our people’s resilience.