Beloved Belz Hasidic Leader Menachem Benjamin Shmedra Passes Away at 78

Menachem Benjamin Shmedra, a respected elder of the Belz Hasidic community in Ashdod, passed away on Thursday morning in Bnei Brak at the age of 78 after years of declining health. Born in Tel Aviv on the 3rd of Shevat 5708 (1948), he was the son of Abraham Shmedra. As a child, he studied in Tel Aviv where he had the privilege of seeing the face of the Belz Rebbe, Rabbi Aharon Rokeach, which deepened his connection to the Belz Hasidic dynasty. He even studied in the same class as the current Belz Rebbe during his youth.

Shmedra later moved to Jerusalem to study in a major yeshiva. Upon reaching marriageable age, he wed the daughter of Rabbi Meir Arnfeld. The couple lived in Bnei Brak for several years, where he worked in the diamond exchange and became known for his extensive charity and kindness. Subsequently, he relocated to the United States, becoming a founding leader of the Belz Hasidic community in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and helped build the local Beit Midrash and the first mikveh in the Belz camp in the Catskill Mountains.

In 1979, Shmedra returned to Israel and settled in Ashdod, where he was among the pioneers establishing the growing Belz community. In recent years, his health declined, and he resided in a nursing home in Bnei Brak. He passed away with a good name, leaving behind a blessed lineage of children, sons-in-law, and descendants committed to Torah and Hasidism.

His funeral took place at 5:00 PM from the Beit David Shaul synagogue in Ashdod’s Z district, proceeding through the central Belz Beit Midrash in G district. At 8:30 PM, a second funeral procession departed from the Sanhedria funeral home in Jerusalem, passing the main Beit Midrash in Kiryat Belz before his burial in the "Kahal Machzikei HaDat" section on Har HaMenuchot cemetery. May his soul be bound in the bond of life.