Kiryat Sanz ( he, קריית צאנז, also spelled Kiriat Tzanz) is a
Haredi
Haredi Judaism ( he, ', ; also spelled ''Charedi'' in English; plural ''Haredim'' or ''Charedim'') consists of groups within Orthodox Judaism that are characterized by their strict adherence to ''halakha'' (Jewish law) and traditions, in oppos ...
neighborhood located at the northwestern end of
Netanya
Netanya (also known as Natanya, he, נְתַנְיָה) is a city in the Northern Central District of Israel, and is the capital of the surrounding Sharon plain. It is north of Tel Aviv, and south of Haifa, between Poleg stream and Wingate I ...
,
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
Rebbe
A Rebbe ( yi, רבי, translit=rebe) or Admor ( he, אדמו״ר) is the spiritual leader in the Hasidic movement, and the personalities of its dynasties.Heilman, Samuel"The Rebbe and the Resurgence of Orthodox Judaism."''Religion and Spiritua ...
, Rabbi
Yekusiel Yehudah Halberstam
Yekusiel Yehudah Halberstam (January 10, 1905 – June 18, 1994) was an Orthodox rabbi and the founding rebbe of the Sanz-Klausenburg Hasidic dynasty.
Halberstam was one of the youngest rebbes in Europe, leading thousands of followers in the ...
, who established his court here in 1960, Kiryat Sanz is the world center for
Sanz-Klausenburg
Klausenburg, also known as Sanz-Klausenburg, is a Hasidic dynasty that originated in the Transylvanian city of Cluj-Napoca (german: Klausenburg, hu, Kolozsvár), today in Romania.
At the behest of Rabbi Yekusiel Yehudah Halberstam, Klausenburg ...
Hasidism
Hasidism, sometimes spelled Chassidism, and also known as Hasidic Judaism (Ashkenazi Hebrew: חסידות ''Ḥăsīdus'', ; originally, "piety"), is a Jewish religious group that arose as a spiritual revival movement in the territory of contem ...
. The Rebbe's son and successor, Rabbi
Zvi Elimelech Halberstam
Zvi Elimelech Halberstam (born 1952) is the present Sanz Rebbe of Netanya, Israel. He is also known as the Sanzer Rebbe. He is the eldest son of Rabbi Yekusiel Yehudah Halberstam, the first Sanz-Klausenberger Rebbe, who in his will divided the lead ...
, known as the Sanzer Rebbe, holds his court here.
History
In the 1950s, as the nascent
State of Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
began building its population, the Klausenburger Rebbe — who had emigrated to the United States in 1947 after surviving
The Holocaust
The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...
and living in
displaced persons
Forced displacement (also forced migration) is an involuntary or coerced movement of a person or people away from their home or home region. The UNHCR defines 'forced displacement' as follows: displaced "as a result of persecution, conflict, g ...
camps — applied to the Israeli government for land on which to build a Hasidic settlement for Holocaust survivors. The Rebbe's goals in founding Kiryat Sanz were to restore the former glory of
Sanz
Sanz (or Tsanz, yi, צאנז) is a Hasidic dynasty originating in the city of Sanz (Nowy Sącz) in Galicia. The dynasty was founded by the rebbe Rabbi Chaim Halberstam (1793–1876) who was the rabbi of Nowy Sącz and the author of the work ...
Hasidism that had been wiped out by the Holocaust, and to establish a model of Torah living which would illuminate the surrounding secular environs.
Many Torah leaders counseled the Rebbe as to where he should establish his new community — some suggested the outskirts of
Safed
Safed (known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as Tzfat; Sephardi Hebrew, Sephardic Hebrew & Modern Hebrew: צְפַת ''Tsfat'', Ashkenazi Hebrew pronunciation, Ashkenazi Hebrew: ''Tzfas'', Biblical Hebrew: ''Ṣǝp̄aṯ''; ar, صفد, ''Ṣafad''), i ...
Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
. The Rebbe set up his own action committee, which recommended two sites on the
Mediterranean
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...
coast in and around Netanya, and the Rebbe chose the land on the Netanya beachfront. According to Rabbi Eliyahu Shmuel Schmerler,
rosh yeshiva
Rosh yeshiva ( he, ראש ישיבה, pl. he, ראשי ישיבה, '; Anglicized pl. ''rosh yeshivas'') is the title given to the dean of a yeshiva, a Jewish educational institution that focuses on the study of traditional religious texts, primar ...
of the Sanz yeshiva in Netanya and a long-time confidante of the Rebbe, "The Rebbe mentioned at the time that the day would come when people would not say 'Kiryat Sanz—that’s near Netanya,' but that 'Netanya was near Kiryat Sanz'".
The purchase price of the land was covered with part of a $1 million check that the Rebbe had received from the
City of New York
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
, which was planning to build a new road in place of the ageing buildings occupied by the Rebbe's Yesodei HaTorah school in
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
. The first deposit was made on 30 September (3
Tishrei
Tishrei () or Tishri (; he, ''tīšrē'' or ''tīšrī''; from Akkadian ''tašrītu'' "beginning", from ''šurrû'' "to begin") is the first month of the civil year (which starts on 1 Tishrei) and the seventh month of the ecclesiastical year ...
) 1954 and toasted in the Rebbe's Williamsburg home at the end of that day, after the conclusion of the
Fast of Gedalia
The Fast of Gedalia (; he, צוֹם גְּדַלְיָה ''Tzom Gedalya''), also transliterated from the Hebrew language as Gedaliah or Gedalya(h), is a minor Jewish fast day from dawn until dusk to lament the assassination of Gedaliah, the right ...
. In later years, the
Israel Land Administration
The Israel Land Administration (ILA; he, מנהל מקרקעי ישראל, Minhal Mekarka'ei Yisra'el; ar, مديرية أراضي اسرائيل) is an Israeli government authority responsible for managing land in Israel which is in the public d ...
would grant additional acreage to the budding community.
On 4 March (21
Adar
Adar ( he, אֲדָר ; from Akkadian ''adaru'') is the sixth month of the civil year and the twelfth month of the religious year on the Hebrew calendar, roughly corresponding to the month of March in the Gregorian calendar. It is a month of 29 d ...
) 1956, the Rebbe returned to Israel to lay the cornerstone for Kiryat Sanz in the presence of thousands of religious Jews, many of them Sanzer Hasidim and others Holocaust survivors who had known the Rebbe from Germany. He delivered a lengthy speech expounding on the holiness of the
Land of Israel
The Land of Israel () is the traditional Jewish name for an area of the Southern Levant. Related biblical, religious and historical English terms include the Land of Canaan, the Promised Land, the Holy Land, and Palestine (see also Isra ...
and encouraging more Jews to settle here. He also outlined his vision for the new village:
Hundreds of families will move to Kiryat Sanz from abroad and establish roots here, living their lives according to our holy Torah and our tradition. In the center of the city there will be a yeshivah and educational institutions for both boys and girls, to educate them in Torah and fear of Heaven. We will build businesses and factories that will provide the families who move here with an honorable livelihood and steady income.
Today is a day of great celebration for me. I have often thought to myself, "Why did I remain among the living? Why did I alone survive from my entire family?" Today I know clearly that everything happened so that I should merit to lay, with my very own hands, the cornerstone of Kiryat Sanz in the Land of Israel.
Thereafter the Rebbe began planning all the infrastructure for his community, including kindergartens, boys' and girls' schools,
yeshiva
A yeshiva (; he, ישיבה, , sitting; pl. , or ) is a traditional Jewish educational institution focused on the study of Rabbinic literature, primarily the Talmud and halacha (Jewish law), while Torah and Jewish philosophy are s ...
s, seminaries,
synagogue
A synagogue, ', 'house of assembly', or ', "house of prayer"; Yiddish: ''shul'', Ladino: or ' (from synagogue); or ', "community". sometimes referred to as shul, and interchangeably used with the word temple, is a Jewish house of worshi ...
s, a children's home for orphaned and needy girls, an old-age home, and a
hospital
A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment with specialized health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically has an emerge ...
. In 1958 he laid the cornerstone for both the old-age home and the hospital; the former was completed in 1960, while the latter, which became known as
Laniado Hospital
Laniado Hospital, also known as the Sanz Medical Center, is a voluntary, not-for-profit hospital in Kiryat Sanz, Netanya, Israel, serving a regional population of over 450,000 in Netanya and the Sharon plain. Opened in 1975 by Rabbi Yekusiel Yeh ...
, did not open until 1975.Hall, Y. (1 February 2006). ''The Hospital with a Jewish Heart''.
Hamodia
''Hamodia'' ( he, המודיע – "''the Informer''") is a Hebrew-language daily newspaper published in Jerusalem. A daily English-language edition is also published in the United States, and weekly English-language editions in England and Israe ...
Magazine, pp. 12-13, 17. In addition to religious services, the new settlement had a
diamond
Diamond is a Allotropes of carbon, solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Another solid form of carbon known as graphite is the Chemical stability, chemically stable form of car ...
polishing factory built by a New York diamond merchant.
The Rebbe, his family, and 50 followers made
aliyah
Aliyah (, ; he, עֲלִיָּה ''ʿălīyyā'', ) is the immigration of Jews from Jewish diaspora, the diaspora to, historically, the geographical Land of Israel, which is in the modern era chiefly represented by the Israel, State of Israel ...
to Kiryat Sanz on 20 December (19
Kislev
Kislev or Chislev (Hebrew: כִּסְלֵו, Standard ''Kīslev'' Tiberian ''Kīslēw''), also 'Chisleu' in the King James (authorized English) Bible, is the third month of the civil year and the ninth month of the ecclesiastical year on the Heb ...
) 1959. From then on, the Rebbe celebrated the 19th of Kislev as a personal holiday. Thereafter he divided his time between his home in Kiryat Sanz and the yeshiva community which he established in
Union City, New Jersey
Union City is a city in the northern part of Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. According to the 2020 United States Census the city had a total population of 68,589, He died in Kiryat Sanz on 18 June 1994.
Kiryat Sanz today
Today Kiryat Sanz has a population of approximately 600 families. Most of the older generation are Holocaust survivors. Besides its educational facilities for boys and girls from elementary to post-graduate, it has five synagogues, a
mikveh
Mikveh or mikvah (, ''mikva'ot'', ''mikvoth'', ''mikvot'', or (Yiddish) ''mikves'', lit., "a collection") is a bath used for the purpose of ritual immersion in Judaism to achieve ritual purity.
Most forms of ritual impurity can be purif ...
, a printing house, a religious hotel, a religious nursing school, and the Laniado Hospital, which encompasses two medical centers, a children’s hospital, a geriatric center and a nursing school, serving a regional population of over 450,000.
Befitting its role as a Torah-observant community, Kiryat Sanz is closed to traffic on
Shabbat
Shabbat (, , or ; he, שַׁבָּת, Šabbāṯ, , ) or the Sabbath (), also called Shabbos (, ) by Ashkenazim, is Judaism's day of rest on the seventh day of the week—i.e., Saturday. On this day, religious Jews remember the biblical storie ...
. Its beachfront was also the first in Israel to schedule separate swimming hours for men and women. Notwithstanding its predominant Haredi atmosphere, Kiryat Sanz is known for its tolerance toward non-religious Jews. Much of the credit for the tolerant feeling between Netanya's religious and non-religious populations goes to the Klausenburger Rebbe, who founded Kiryat Sanz and its regional hospital from the desire to give to and benefit others. Observers believe that the example set by Laniado Hospital, which treats patients of all races and backgrounds and does not leave any proselytizing literature in the wards, is responsible for the growth of the religious list in local
elections
An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office.
Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operate ...
.
Since the Rebbe's death in 1994, his eldest son, Rabbi Zvi Elimelech Halberstam, known as the Sanzer Rebbe, has been the spiritual leader of the Sanz community in Israel. From his home in Kiryat Sanz, he directs the Sanz Torah and chessed organizations in Netanya,
Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
,
Bnei Brak
Bnei Brak or Bene Beraq ( he, בְּנֵי בְּרַק ) is a city located on the central Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean Israeli coastal plain, coastal plain in Israel, just east of Tel Aviv. A center of Haredi Judaism, Bnei Brak covers an are ...
,
Petah Tikva
Petah Tikva ( he, פֶּתַח תִּקְוָה, , ), also known as ''Em HaMoshavot'' (), is a city in the Central District (Israel), Central District of Israel, east of Tel Aviv. It was founded in 1878, mainly by Haredi Judaism, Haredi Jews of ...
,
Haifa
Haifa ( he, חֵיפָה ' ; ar, حَيْفَا ') is the third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropol ...
,
Safed
Safed (known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as Tzfat; Sephardi Hebrew, Sephardic Hebrew & Modern Hebrew: צְפַת ''Tsfat'', Ashkenazi Hebrew pronunciation, Ashkenazi Hebrew: ''Tzfas'', Biblical Hebrew: ''Ṣǝp̄aṯ''; ar, صفد, ''Ṣafad''), i ...
,
Ashdod
Ashdod ( he, ''ʾašdōḏ''; ar, أسدود or إسدود ''ʾisdūd'' or '' ʾasdūd'' ; Philistine: 𐤀𐤔𐤃𐤃 *''ʾašdūd'') is the sixth-largest city in Israel. Located in the country's Southern District, it lies on the Mediterran ...
,
Modiin
Modi'in-Maccabim-Re'ut ( he, מוֹדִיעִין-מַכַּבִּים-רֵעוּת) is an Israeli city located in central Israel, about southeast of Tel Aviv and west of Jerusalem, and is connected to those two cities via Highway 443. In t ...
,
Beitar Illit
Beitar Illit ( he, בֵּיתָר עִלִּית; officially Betar Illit; "Illit" is pronounced "ee-leet"; ar, بيتار عيليت) is an Haredi Jewish-Israeli settlement organized as a city council in the Gush Etzion settlement bloc, sout ...
, and
Elad
El'ad, also spelled Elad ( he, אלעד), is a city in the Central District of Israel. In the 1990s, it was built for a Haredi Jewish population and to a lesser extent, it was also built for a Religious Zionist Jewish population. Located about ...
. He is also directly responsible for all the institutions built by his father in Israel, including Laniado Hospital, where he serves as president.
Landmarks
*Galei Sanz Hotel
*
Laniado Hospital
Laniado Hospital, also known as the Sanz Medical Center, is a voluntary, not-for-profit hospital in Kiryat Sanz, Netanya, Israel, serving a regional population of over 450,000 in Netanya and the Sharon plain. Opened in 1975 by Rabbi Yekusiel Yeh ...
See also
*
Kiryat Sanz, Jerusalem Kiryat Sanz ( he, קריית צאנז) is a Haredi Jewish neighborhood in Jerusalem. It is located in the northwestern part of Jerusalem.
The neighborhood was established in 1965 by Jewish immigrants from Sanz in Galicia, largely as a center for t ...