Belz Rebbe Says Women’s Resolve Will Protect the Entire Generation
On Wednesday evening, the Belz Hasidic leadership gathered at the rebbe’s residence for a special meeting to strengthen modesty standards and expand the newly formed ‘Bnos Melachim’ committee. The initiative, the community said, is meant to support the public, raise the profile of modest dress in the community, and connect women to the values of the Belz court and its rebbes.
Rabbi Yehoshua Pink, the committee member and spiritual director of Beis Malka, told the rebbe that although the group is broadening, in practice every mother in the community is now considered part of it and has the right to be protected by the community’s modesty norms. He said the committee is not meant to stand above the public, but to serve as a “messenger of the public” for those who want to follow Torah and Hasidic tradition.
Rabbi Elimelech Gross said Belz has always given righteous women a special and honored place. He recalled that the rebbes did not want to enter the study hall without a women’s section, because, he said, righteous women can tear open the gates of heaven with their tears. Rabbi Aaron Mordechai Rokeach, who heads the committee, praised its members for carrying out the rebbe’s exact guidance and warned against giving in to “street temptations.”
The rebbe then spoke at length about the founding of Beis Malka years ago despite major financial and other difficulties. He said the institution was created not mainly to teach general studies, but to ensure that Jewish girls would learn how a Jewish woman should dress, and that Belz had established a clear standard for both men’s and women’s dress. He said every parent must uphold these standards at home, and that those with influence over others have a duty to raise the issue. The rebbe warned that if people seek leniencies and create new boundaries, no one can know how far things will go, but if Belz remains firm, “it will be a salvation for the entire generation.” Afterward, committee members received a blessed coin from the rebbe.
