Украинская хасидская династия Сквер

Ukrainian Hasidic dynasty

Skver (also Skvir, Skvere, Skwere, or Square; ) is a Chasidic dynasty founded by Rebbe Yitzchok Twersky in the city of Skver (known in Yiddish), or Skvyra, in present day Ukraine during the mid 19th century. Adherents of the rebbes of Skver are known as Skverer Hasidim. The Skver dynasty is a branch of the Chernobyl dynasty. Its founder, Rebbe Yitzchok, also known as Reb Itzikl, was one of the eight sons of Rabbi Mordechai, the Maggid of Chernobyl. There are currently three rebbes of the Skverer dynasty:
David Twersky, who leads the largest and most prominent branch, headquartered in New Square, New York. Yechiel Michl Twersky, son of the late Rebbe David ("Reb Duvid'l") Twersky, who heads the Skver Boro Park community. Yitzchok Twersky, son of the late Reb Mottel Twersky, who leads the Skver Flatbush community.

Skverer Hasidism stresses Torah study, prayer, and abstention from excessive earthly pleasures, in order to achieve purity of heart and mind. To that end, the village of New Square was established, where residents are sheltered from influences deemed decadent. A central part of the lifestyle is the attachment to the Rebbe. As with most Hasidic groups today, the Rebbe's position is generally attained through his lineage. However, to be accepted by the masses, the Rebbe is expected to display behaviors such as humility, love for fellow Jews, and general devotion to God's service. The rebbe, as tzadik, or righteous person, is seen as a conduit to God for the masses. Modes of dress for Skverer Hasidim are generally similar to those of other Hasidic groups, especially that of Vizhnitz, Belz, and Klausenburg. Weekday attire for men consists of long coats, called rekls, and velvet hats. On Shabbos (the Jewish Sabbath), Jewish holidays, and special occasions, the men wear long black coats made of silk (or imitation silk made from polyester), called bekishes. Today, married men also wear fur hats, called shtreimels, and knee high leather boots known as shtievl. Married women usually wear a wig, often with an additional covering over it, such as a scarf or a hat, and wear modest clothing, with long, conservative skirts, long sleeves, fully covered necklines, and stockings.

The first Rebbe of Skver was Rabbi Hershele of Skver (Reb Hershele Skverer), a direct descendant of the Baal Shem Tov. When Rabbi Hershele settled in Skver (Skvira), he was elected to become the town rabbi in the shtutishe shil (, "main shul in the city"). Rabbi Hershele's daughter later married Rabbi Yitzchok Twersky (called Reb Itzikl), the seventh son of Rabbi Mordechai of Chernobyl.

After Hershele died on Chol Hamoed Succos, 5548 (1788), Itzikl, the seventh son of Mordechai of Chernobyl and Hershele's son in law, became the next rabbi of Skver. Itzikl was married three times. He married his first wife, a granddaughter of Rabbi Yitzchok of Radvil and the Apter Rov, in 1783. They had two sons: Avrohom Yehoshua Heshil of Makhnovka, and Menachum Nochum of Shpikov. His second wife, Chaya Malka, was a daughter of Rabbi Yisroel Friedman of Ruzhin. His third wife, Chana Sima, was the daughter of Rabbi (Tsvi) Hershele of Skver. Itzikl is known in Hasidic legend as the filozof eloki ("the Godly philosopher"). The Haskala movement (the "Jewish Enlightenment"), was sweeping through Eastern Europe in the late eighteenth century, and Itzikl frequently attempted to debate and confront the Maskilim. There are no published works by Itzikl himself, but a collection of oral teachings called "Yalkut Meorei Or" (among other books) has been published by Skverer Hasidim in recent years under the imprint of Mechon Mishkenos Yakov.

Itzikl's son by his third wife Chana Sima, Dovidl, succeeded his father as Skverer Rebbe. In 1919, Dovidl left Skvira for Kiev due to the Bolshevik revolution. He stayed in Kiev until his death (on 15 Kislev 5680) later that year. He left no published works.

Dovidl's son, Rebbe Yakov Yosef (1899–1968) married Trana, the daughter of Rabbi Pinye of Ustilla and granddaughter of Yissachar Dov Rokeach of Belz, in 1925. As a young man, he lived in Belz, and later adopted some of the Belzer customs. A few years later, he set up court in Kalarash, Romania (now Călăraşi, Moldova), and later in Iaşi. After World War II, he lived in Bucharest. In 1948, after surviving the war in Romania, Yakov Yosef came to the United States. After spending a few years in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, he established a community in what was then rural Rockland County, New York, and named it New Square, where he moved with a few followers in 1956.

After Yakov Yosef's death in 1968 his son Duvid Twersky became rebbe. Aside from its headquarters in New Square and its branches in New York City, the group maintains institutions in Canada, England, and Israel. Its school in New Square has close to five thousand students.

Reb Dovidl's eldest son, Rabbi Mordechai Twersky, died in the same year, before his father in Kiev. During those difficult times, many Jews fled Ukraine and came to America. Rabbi Mordechai's son, Rabbi Yitzchak Twersky, also left Bessarabia and came to America, arriving in 1923. Eventually, he settled in Borough Park, Brooklyn, and opened his shul on 47th Street, between 13th and 14th Avenue. Rabbi Yitzchak Twersky died while his son Rabbi Dovid Twersky was still young. Although there were not many vibrant Hasidic communities in America in those days, he was raised in a Hasidic atmosphere in his mother's house where he was guarded against what they considered the "harmful influences" of American culture. Rabbi Dovid Twersky was known for his expertise and influence with many in the medical field, and consequently, was often sought out for advice. He died in 2001, and was succeeded by his son, Rabbi Yechiel Mechel Twersky, the rebbe of Skver Boro Park.