Overview: Rabbi Chaim Aryeh Leibish Leizer is the third Pshevorsker Rebbe and the current leader of the Pshevorsk Hasidic dynasty in Antwerp. Since succeeding his father in 1998, he has led one of the city's best-known Hasidic communities, continuing the traditions established by his grandfather, Rabbi Moshe Yitzchak Gewirtzman, and his father, Rabbi Yaakov Leizer. Under his leadership, the Pshevorsk court has remained an influential presence within Antwerp's Orthodox Jewish community.
Early Life
Rabbi Leizer was born on 27 Av 5698 (1938) in Przeworsk (Pshevorsk), Poland, to Rabbi Yaakov Leizer, who would later become the second Pshevorsker Rebbe, and Alta Bina, daughter of Rabbi Moshe Yitzchak Gewirtzman, the founder of the Pshevorsk dynasty.
During the Second World War, his family was deported to Siberia, surviving the Holocaust years there. After the war they lived in Kraków, where he studied under Rabbi Akiva Gross, Chief Rabbi of Gliwice. The family later moved to Paris and eventually settled in Antwerp, where the Pshevorsk court was re-established.
In 1955, Rabbi Leizer spent a year studying at the Belz Yeshiva in Jerusalem, following the path of his father and grandfather as followers of Rabbi Aharon Rokeach of Belz.
Family and Rabbinical Career
In 1958, Rabbi Leizer married Malka Mindel Chana Wagshal, daughter of Rabbi Alter Yaakov Yitzchak Wagshal, the Rebbe of Łańcut. The couple lived in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, where Rabbi Leizer maintained close relationships with several leading Hasidic rebbes, including Rabbi Yoel Teitelbaum of Satmar, Rabbi Yekusiel Yehuda Halberstam of Klausenburg, and Rabbi Yaakov Yosef Twersky of Skver.
After the passing of his first wife, he remarried her niece. During the 1990s he returned to Antwerp, residing near his father and becoming increasingly involved in the leadership of the Pshevorsk community. Following his father's passing in 1998, he succeeded him as the third Pshevorsker Rebbe.
Leadership in Antwerp
From Antwerp, Rabbi Leizer leads the Pshevorsk Hasidic community, attracting followers from Belgium and abroad to the central Pshevorsk Synagogue. He also spends time in Williamsburg, maintaining close ties with members of the dynasty in the United States. In addition to his role as Rebbe, he serves as honorary president of Kollel Chibat Jerusalem – Tzedakat Rabbi Meir Baal HaNes in Europe and as president of the Keren Hatzalah charitable organization.
Rabbi Leizer is known for maintaining an extensive private library and dedicating many hours each day to Torah study.
Legacy
For more than two decades, Rabbi Chaim Aryeh Leibish Leizer has continued the leadership of the Pshevorsk dynasty in Antwerp, preserving the traditions established after the Second World War. Today, the Pshevorsk court remains one of the most prominent Hasidic institutions in Belgium and an important part of Antwerp's Orthodox Jewish life.
Sources
- Hamichlol – "Rabbi Chaim Aryeh Leibish Leizer."
- Hamichlol – "Rabbi Yaakov Leizer."
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