Seret (Hasidic dynasty)

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For the river in Ukraine, see Seret River.

Rabbi Mendel Rubin of Seret (center) son of Reb Shmuel Schmelke, seen with his son Rabbi Moses Josef Rubin (right) and son in law Rabbi Sholom Lamm (left).

Seret or Sereter Hasidim were a Haredi group of Hasidic Jews that existed in the town of Siret (Seret) and the surrounding area in Bukovina during the years 1870-1940. They were headed by their Rebbe ("Grand Rabbi") whose family name was Rubin and was a scion of the Ropshitz dynasty.

[edit] History

The leader of the group was Grand Rabbi Shmuel Schmelke Rubin (1840-1901), who was married to Chaya Hager, the daughter of Rabbi Yosef Alter Hager of Rădăuţi (Radovitz) who was in turn a son of Rabbi Chaim Hager of Kosov (Kossov). Rabbi Schmelke's parents were Grand Rabbi Yitzchok Rubin of Brody (Brod), the grandson of Grand Rabbi Naftali Tzvi of Ropczyce (Ropschitz) and Aidel, who was the daughter of Grand Rabbi Sholom Rokeach of Belz.

After Rabbi Schmelke's passing in 1901, he was succeeded as Rebbe by his son Grand Rabbi Pinchas Menachem Mendel Rubin (1870-1941). Rabbi Schmelke's son in law Rabbi Chaim Dachner served as the Head of the Rabbinic court in Siret.

Rabbi Mendel's eldest son was Rabbi Moses Josef Rubin of Câmpulung Moldovenesc (1892-1980) who was a prominent Rabbi in pre-World War II Romania and post-war New York City. The renowned Halchachic authority Rabbi Meshulam Roth of Cernăuţi (1875-1962) was a son in law of Rabbi Mendel.

Rabbi Boruch Hager of the Vizhnitz Chassidic Dynasty, who later founded the Seret-Vizhinitz Hasidic dynasty in Israel, served as the town's Rabbi in 1936-1941.

Virtually all members of the sect perished in the Transnistria concentration camps (see Romania during World War II).