Chortkov (also ''Chortkov'', ''Tshortkov'', ''Czortkow'') is a

Hasidic Hasidism () or Hasidic Judaism is a religious movement within Judaism that arose in the 18th century as a spiritual revival movement in contemporary Western Ukraine before spreading rapidly throughout Eastern Europe. Today, most of those aff ...

dynasty A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family, usually in the context of a monarchy, monarchical system, but sometimes also appearing in republics. A dynasty may also be referred to as a "house", "family" or "clan", among others. H ...

that originated in

Chortkiv Chortkiv (, ; ; ) is a List of cities in Ukraine, city in Chortkiv Raion, Ternopil Oblast, western Ukraine. It is the administrative center of Chortkiv Raion, housing the district's local administration buildings. Chortkiv hosts the administratio ...

(), present-day

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

. The town was part of the

Tarnopol Voivodeship Tarnopol Voivodeship (; ) was an administrative region of Second Polish Republic, interwar Poland (1918–1939), created on 23 December 1920, with an area of 16,500 km2 and provincial capital in Tarnopol (now ''Ternopil'', Ukraine). The Voi ...

of the

Second Polish Republic The Second Polish Republic, at the time officially known as the Republic of Poland, was a country in Central and Eastern Europe that existed between 7 October 1918 and 6 October 1939. The state was established in the final stage of World War I ...

until September 1939. The town itself was founded in 1522 by Polish King

Sigismund I the Old Sigismund I the Old (, ; 1 January 1467 – 1 April 1548) was List of Polish monarchs, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1506 until his death in 1548. Sigismund I was a member of the Jagiellonian dynasty, the son of Casimir IV of P ...

. The dynasty had a large following before the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, but most of its adherents were murdered in

the Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

. Chortkov is one of the branches of the Ruzhiner dynasty, together with the Bohush, Boyan,

Husiatyn Husiatyn (; ) is a rural settlement in Chortkiv Raion, Ternopil Oblast, western Ukraine. It hosts the administration of Husiatyn settlement hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine. Husiatyn is located on the west bank of the Zbruch River, which o ...

, Sadigura, Kapishnitz, Vasloi, and Shtefanesht dynasties.

Chortkov dynasty history

Duvid Moshe Friedman

The first Rebbe of Chortkov was Rabbi Duvid Moshe Friedman (1828–1903), son of Rabbi Yisroel Friedman of Ruzhyn. He was born in 1828 on the festival of Shavuos. His first wife was the daughter of Rabbi Aaron Twerski of Chernobyl. In 1865, 14 years after his father's death, he settled in Chortkov forming his own community there. Rabbi David Moshe completely divorced himself from carnal desires and was constant in his devotion to God. His followers were one of the largest Hasidic groups in Galicia, numbering in the thousands. He died on

Hoshana Rabbah Hoshana Rabbah (, ) is the seventh day of the Jewish holiday of Sukkot, the 21st day of the month of Tishrei. This day is marked by a special synagogue service, the Hoshana Rabbah, in which seven circuits are made by the worshippers with their ...

, 1903, and was succeeded by his second son, Yisroel, his first son having predeceased him. His teachings have been published in ''Divrei Dovid'', ''Beis Yisroel'' and ''Knesset Yisroel''.

Yisroel Friedman

Rabbi Dovid Moshe's son was Rabbi Yisroel Friedman, who died in 1934. After Yisroel, his sons, Rabbi Nochum Mordechai Friedman and Rabbi Dov Ber Friedman, served as Rebbes. Dov Ber died in 1936. Rabbi Nochum fled to the British Mandate of Palestine in 1939 and died in

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

in 1946. His son Rabbi Shlomo Friedman led the Chortkover Hasidim until his death in

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...

in 1959.

Later history

Among the leaders of the Chortkover Hasidim are Rabbi Yisroel Friedman of

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

, England, and Rabbi Dov Ber Friedman of

Antwerp Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

. Both are grandsons of the Dov Ber who do not use the title of Chortkover Rebbe. In addition to the Chortkover communities in Manchester and Antwerp, there is also one in Jerusalem, and one in Safed (Tzefas).The Chasidic Group of Czortków
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Lineage of the Chortkov dynasty

Historic photographs of Synagogue

Image:Chortkov ceiling.gif, A portion of the ornately carved ceiling of the Hassidic Synagogue Image:Chotkov kloiz.jpg, The

Torah Ark A Torah ark (also known as the ''hekhal'', , or ''aron qodesh'', ) is an ornamental chamber in the synagogue that houses the Torah scrolls. History The ark is also known as the ''ark of law'', or in Hebrew the ''Aron Kodesh'' () or ''aron ha-Kod ...

of the Hassidic Synagogue

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chortkov (Hasidic Dynasty) Hasidic dynasties Jewish Galician (Eastern Europe) history Judaism in Antwerp Ruzhin (Hasidic dynasty)