A Special “Hachnasas Sifrei Koidesh” in Belz

By Y.M. Lowy

In the heart of the Belz community in Boro Park, Zos Chanukah was celebrated with a revival of an old minhag of the Belz Rabbi zt”l.

In der alta heim, the children of the Belz would gather on Zos Chanukah in the binder’s house, which had accumulated all the worn-out, torn seforim. These seforim would then be distributed to the children. The children would march together, holding the freshly bound seforim, singing on their way to the Beis Medrash where they would pass the house of the Belz Rebbe zt”l. The Rebbe would come out with immense joy to greet the children marching in the “Hachnasas Sifrei Koidesh”, showing the children from a young age the importance of how to respect and honor seforim. The event would usually end in the Beis Medrash, where they would dance with great joy and excitement until the middle of the night.

Now, many years later, the Belz Kehilla in Boro Park has revived this minhag. At the new Beis Medrash on 47th Street and Hamilton Avenue, dozens of children together with their parents gathered for the occasion. They distributed nearly a thousand new seforim and marched together through the streets for the “Hachnasas Sifrei Koidesh”.