Machnovka is a Hasidic

Hasidic Judaism

Hasidic Judaism or Hasidism, from the Hebrew —Ḥasidut in Sephardi, Chasidus in Ashkenazi, meaning "piety" , is a branch of Orthodox Judaism that promotes spirituality and joy through the popularisation and internalisation of Jewish mysticism as the fundamental aspects of the Jewish faith...

 dynasty and part of the Chernobyl

Chernobyl (Hasidic dynasty)

Chernobyl is a Hasidic dynasty that was founded by Grand Rabbi Menachem Nachum Twersky, known by the name of his work as the "Meor Einayim Chernobyl is a Hasidic dynasty that was founded by Grand Rabbi Menachem Nachum Twersky, known by the name of his work as the "Meor Einayim Chernobyl is a...

 dynastic group of families.

It takes its name from the village Makhnivke in the Ukraine

Ukraine

Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...

, where its founder lived. Machnovka is an extant Hasidic group which survived the Holocaust

The Holocaust

The Holocaust , also known as the Shoah , was the genocide of approximately six million European Jews and millions of others during World War II, a programme of systematic state-sponsored murder by Nazi...

. Its Hasidic court is now located in Bnei Brak, Israel

Israel

The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

.

Machnovka is also a sub-dynasty of Skver

Skver (Hasidic dynasty)

Skver is the name of a Hasidic dynasty founded by Rebbe Yitzchok Twerski in the city of Skver . Followers of the rebbes of Skver are called Skverer hasidim....

. It is a living legacy of the unique culture of the Polish

History of the Jews in Poland

The history of the Jews in Poland dates back over a millennium. For centuries, Poland was home to the largest and most significant Jewish community in the world. Poland was the centre of Jewish culture thanks to a long period of statutory religious tolerance and social autonomy. This ended with the...

 and Ukrainian

History of the Jews in Ukraine

Jewish communities have existed in the territory of Ukraine from the time of Kievan Rus' and developed many of the most distinctive modern Jewish theological and cultural traditions. While at times they flourished, at other times they faced periods of persecution and antisemitic discriminatory...

 Jews and their Hasidic dynasties.

Lineage

The founder the Chernobyl dynasty was Rebbe Menachem Nachum Twersky

Menachem Nachum Twersky

Rabbi Menachem Nochum Twerski of Chernobyl was the founder of the Chernobyl Hasidic dynasty. He was a disciple of the Baal Shem Tov and the Maggid of Mezritch, and published one of the first works of Hasidic thought...

 of Chernobyl, a disciple of Rabbi Yisroel ben Eliezer, the Baal Shem Tov, who established the Hasidic movement

• Grand Rabbi Menachem Nochum Twersky of Chernobyl - author of Meor Einayim, disciple of the Baal Shem Tov
  • Grand Rabbi Mordechai Twersky
    Mordechai Twersky
    Rabbi Mordechai Twersky, known as the Maggid of Chernobyl, was the son of Rabbi Menachem Nachum Twersky of Chernobyl and the second rebbe of the Chernobyl Hasidic dynasty...
    
     the "Maggid of Chernobyl", son of the Meor Einayim – had eight sons who each became a rebbe
    Rebbe
    Rebbe , which means master, teacher, or mentor, is a Yiddish word derived from the Hebrew word Rabbi. It often refers to the leader of a Hasidic Jewish movement...
    
     and started his own dynasty.
    • Grand Rabbi Yitschok Twersky of Skver
      Skver (Hasidic dynasty)
      Skver is the name of a Hasidic dynasty founded by Rebbe Yitzchok Twerski in the city of Skver . Followers of the rebbes of Skver are called Skverer hasidim....
      
      , son of the Maggid of Chernobyl
      • Grand Rabbi Avraham Yehoshua Heshel Twersky (1826-1886) of Skver, son of Rabbi Yitschok
        • Grand Rabbi Yoseph Meir Twersky (1860- 29 Av
          Av
          Av is the eleventh month of the civil year and the fifth month of the ecclesiastical year on the Hebrew calendar. The name is Babylonian in origin and appeared in the Talmud around the 3rd century. This is the only month which is not named in the Bible. It is a summer month of 30 days...
          
           1917) of Machnovka, son of Rabbi Abraham Yehoshua Heshel of Skver
          • Grand Rabbi Menachem Nochum Twersky (1880-1945) of Skver-Machnovka, son-in-law of Rabbi Yoseph Meir of Machnovka
          • Grand Rabbi Avraham Yehoshua Heshel Twersky (24 Adar
            Adar
            Adar is the sixth month of the civil year and the twelfth month of the ecclesiastical year on the Hebrew calendar. It is a winter month of 29 days...
            
             1895 - 10 Tishrei
            Tishrei
            Tishrei or Tishri , Tiberian: ; from Akkadian "Beginning", from "To begin") is the first month of the civil year and the seventh month of the ecclesiastical year in the Hebrew calendar. The name of the month is Babylonian. It is an autumn month of 30 days...
            
             1987) of Machnovka-Bnei Brak, son of Rabbi Yoseph Meir of Machnovka
            • • Grand Rabbi Yehoshua Rokeach
                Yehoshua Rokeach of Machnovka
                Grand Rabbi Yehoshua Rokeach , current Machnovka Rebbe of Bnei Brak is a great-nephew of Rabbi Avraham Yehoshua Heshl of Machnovka, the third Machnovker Rebbe.-As a scion of the Belz dynasty:...
                
                (born 1949), current Machnovka Rebbe of Bnei Brak, great-nephew of Rabbi Avraham Yehoshua Heshel of Machnovka

Rabbi Avrohom Yehoshua Heshel served as Machnifker Rebbe for 70 years, from 1917 to 1987. For many years in the USSR he defied the communist authorities by spreading the teachings of Judaism

Judaism

Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...

 and Hasidism. After World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 he was invited by the Soviet authorities to serve as Chief Rabbi

Chief Rabbi

Chief Rabbi is a title given in several countries to the recognized religious leader of that country's Jewish community, or to a rabbinic leader appointed by the local secular authorities...

 of the Soviet Union. His refusal to accept this position led to him being banished to Siberia

Siberia

Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...

. In 1965 he received permission to leave the Soviet Union and he emigrated to Bnei Brak, Israel.

See also

• History of the Jews in Poland
  History of the Jews in Poland
  The history of the Jews in Poland dates back over a millennium. For centuries, Poland was home to the largest and most significant Jewish community in the world. Poland was the centre of Jewish culture thanks to a long period of statutory religious tolerance and social autonomy. This ended with the...
  
  
• History of the Jews in Galicia (Central Europe)
• History of the Jews in Ukraine
  History of the Jews in Ukraine
  Jewish communities have existed in the territory of Ukraine from the time of Kievan Rus' and developed many of the most distinctive modern Jewish theological and cultural traditions. While at times they flourished, at other times they faced periods of persecution and antisemitic discriminatory...