Aharon Mordechai Rokeach | |
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Full name | Aharon Mordechai Rokeach |
Born |
Jerusalem, Israel |
12 October 1975
Father | Yissachar Dov Rokeach |
Mother | Sarah Hager |
Wife | Sarah Leah Lemberger |
Children | 10 sons 3 daughters |
Aharon Mordechai Rokeach (born 12 October 1975 [7 Cheshvan 5736]) 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.
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.
Each milestone in Aharon Mordechai's life was celebrated by thousands of Belzer Hasidim. The occasion of his bar mitzvah on 18 October 1988 (7 Cheshvan 5749) 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.