Weekly Chasidic Story#1471 (5786-22) 29 Shevat 5786 (Feb.16, 2026)

"A Synagogue with a Soul"

When Rabbi Sar-Sholom of Belz began building his synagogue, a local gentile noble began to build a church with a high steeple directly opposite it. Plus, he also sent a message to the rebbe that he was a second Haman!

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A Synagogue with a Soul

As soon as Rabbi Shalom of Belz began building his synagogue, a local gentile noble began to build a place of worship directly opposite it, with a tall steeple. To make his point clearer, he sent a message to the rebbe saying that he was a second Haman. The rebbe replied that his end would resemble that of his Biblical namesake.

On his way to shul one day, R. Shalom was stopped by the son of that same graf (nobleman) who held up a piece of pork and said: "Eat this, rabbi!"

No sooner had he uttered these words than he began trembling convulsively. Panic spread through the bystanders, and the young man's father came running to ask the tzadik to forgive him and pray for his son - but he refused, and the young man died. From that time on the graf was ten times more furious than before.

R. Shalom built his shul in such a way that it should stand higher than the other edifice over the road.[1] The graf thereupon made his steeple taller - but one day Reb Shalom told him: "With the Almighty's help you will not be able to beat me, nor will you ever complete your building."

In the course of time it became known that the land on which that building stood belonged to a family of orphans, and had been held by the noble unlawfully. One thing led to another, until the courts advertised the block of land for public sale. The noble promptly made it known that any Jew daring to buy it would be killed at once by his sword, no matter what consequences he himself would later have to face.

R. Shalom, however, was on friendly terms with a Christian medical specialist in Vienna, to whom he dispatched a courier with a message, asking him to come to Belz for the auction, and buy the land for whatever price was named. This he did and in due course buildings belonging to the rav were constructed there.

The graf now began to build his house of worship on a different street, but still opposite the shul, and once again the two buildings were competing for prominence. At this point the festival of Pesach was approaching, and the noble, who was the lord of Belz and owned most of its property, decided to issue a new decree forbidding the baking of matzot in the town, ostensibly for fear of outbreaks of fire.

Reb Shalom had been accustomed year by year to distribute his many students among the householders of the surrounding towns and villages for the duration of the festival. Though his own household could provide meals for them throughout the year, the special needs of Pesach meant that the burden had to be shared out. This year, however, he gave the order that they should all remain with him for the festival, for he trusted the Almighty that there would be ample matzot for all comers.

And so there was. Only a few days after the decree was issued the noble was out riding on his horse on a narrow track, where he encountered the graf of the nearby town of Hubnov. An argument flared up as to which of them was going to make way for the other, and in the course of the duel which followed, the graf of Belz was killed - to the relief of the Jews of the town, who were now able to bake matzot as in earlier years.

When R. Shalom laid the foundation stone of the shul in Belz, he requested heaven that the prayers of all persons entering it be heard On High.

One day he took up a bucket of mortar, wanting to have a share personally in its construction. A chasid who saw him hastened to help by taking the bucket from his hand, but his pious rebbetzin urgently motioned to the chasid through the window that he should not dare to touch it, for fear of confusing the rebbe in his inspired concentration.

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There is a tradition among the Belzer chasidim that this shul will continue being built until the coming of the Mashiach, and that R. Shalom did not complete it intentionally, in order that the worshipers of each succeeding generation should add to it - and since 1843 until this day {at the time my sourcebook was published many decades ago) the building is not quite finished, though additions are made from time to time.[2] On one occasion the tzadik was offered a large sum of money to enable him to complete its construction, but the refused it, saying: "I would like all of Israel to have a share in this synagogue."

It is told of his rebbetzin, Malka, that for a thousand nights she stayed awake with her husband, holding the candle for him as he studied in preparation for the attainment of the lofty spiritual insights involved in the building of his shul. If he fell asleep for more than half an hour he could depend on her to wake him up. On the thousandth night he was overcome by a deep sleep, but the rebbetzin did not let him succumb, for on that night he finally attained the exalted level of spirituality to which he had for so long aspired and toiled.

When his devout and devoted helpmate passed away, R. Shalom said, "Almighty G-D, You know that it was the rebbetzin who made a Jew of me! If I were able to revive the dead I would bring her back to life - but I cannot. But You, Master of the Universe, are able to raise up the whole house of Israel. Why then do you not raise her up?"

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Editor's Postscript:
Actually, the shul was replicated and completed in Jerusalem and began functioning in 2002. Although destroyed by the Nazis in1939 (an interesting story in itself), it was rebuilt in Jerusalem from 1987 - 2002, larger than the original in Belz, Europe, but in the exact same proportions. Recently though (2025-26), the Belz community in the capital managed to obtain the necessary permits to expand it.
[For more information, see the photo and text at the article's end.]

Source:
Modified and supplemented by Yerachmiel Tilles from 'A treasury of Chasidic Tales' (Artscroll), the translation by R. Uri Kapoun of the classic 'Sipurei Chasidim' by one of the most prominent Talmudic and halachic authorities of the 20th Century, Rabbi Shlomo-Yosef Zevin.

Biographical note:
Rabbi Sar Sholom of Belz [1779-27 Elul 1855] was the first of the Belz chassidic dynasty. He became the main rebbe of Galician jewry, and had tens of thousands of chassidim. His teachings are collected in Dover Shalom.

Why This Week?
The weekly Torah reading, Trumah, describes in much detail the specifications and the construction of the Mishkan - the travelling sanctuary in the desert and for the several hundred first years in the Holy Land.

Although destroyed by the Nazis in 1939 (an interesting story in itself), the shul was replicated and completed in Jerusalem and began functioning in 2002. it was rebuilt in Jerusalem from 1987 - 2002, larger than the original in Belz, Europe, but in the exact same proportions. Recently though (2025-26), the Belz community in the capital managed to receive the necessary permits to expand it, despite it already being by far the largest shul in the city (and in Israel, and perhaps in the world).
The large interior of the synagogue can accommodate 2,589 worshippers in the main sanctuary on the main level. A similar number fit in the men's and women's galleries above, totaling nearly 8000. The ark pictured contains 70+ Torah scrolls; it is 15 meters high and weighs 18 tons. It is so huge it has been included in the Guiness Book of World Records.
Photo credit: CC BY-SA 3.0, https:// commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=487119

See also https:// worldofbelz.org/tour-the-shul/ (bottom) for an impressive photo overlay of the original 1843 shul in Europe onto the current one in Jerusalem in 2005.

Footnotes:

1]Not only because it was a church; Jewish law decrees that the synagogue should the highest
building in its area

2]Actually, the shul was replicated and completed in Jerusalem and began functioning in 2002. For
more information, see “Editor’’s Postscript” after the story’s end

Yerachmiel Tilles is co-founder and associate director of Ascent-of-Safed, and chief editor of this website (and of KabbalaOnline.org). He has hundreds of published stories to his credit, and many have been translated into other languages. He tells them live at Ascent nearly every Saturday night.

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