[Photos below.] Following the wedding of the youngest son of the Sanz-Klausenberger Rebbe of Eretz Yisroel, Rav Tzvi Elimelech Halberstam, Wednesday night in Kiryat Sanz, Netanaya, the Shabbos sheva brachos will take place this Shabbos with the participation of thousands of Chassidim from all over the world.
The tishen over Shabbos will be held in the large Heichal Rosenberg hall, while the seudos Shabbos for the numerous guests will take place in large tents specially erected for the occasion.
On Motzoei Shabbos, a gala sheva brachos for the guests taking part in the simcha will be held in Kiryat Sanz.
Last Shabbos, thousands joined in the auf ruf celebration, with many guests arriving from overseas. The tefillos and tishen were held in Heichal Rosenberg. At the Kiddush on Shabbos morning, the Rebbe spoke and expressed a shevach vehodaah to the Ribono Shel Olam that he has merited to see this day when his son, Meir Meshulam Halberstam, who miraculously survived a three-story fall as an infant, would walk down to the chupah.
Later, following seudah shlishis and divrei mussar from the Rebbe, the traditional forshpiel gathering for the chosson was held.
The kallah, Bracha Unsdorfer, is a daughter of Rav Yaakov Elya Unsdorfer, av beis din Reishis Chochmah in Montreal.
The wedding was an amazing celebration for the Sanzer community. The day began at 5 a.m. with a seder of limud in the yeshiva. Hundreds of bochurim, including bochurim who learn in other yeshivos, joined the special seder.
At 7:30 a.m., the Rebbe arrived for Shacharis. After davening, the seder continued and Rav Shaul Yehudah Prizant, dayan of the Sanz Klausenburg community in Union City, NJ, and a son-in-law of the Shefa Chaim zt”l of Sanz, arrived to deliver a special shiur to the bochurim.
At 2 p.m., buses began to arrive in Kiryat Sanz from all over the country. People came from Yerushalayim, Bnei Brak, Elad, Ashdod, Beit Shemesh, Beitar Ilit, Haifa, Modiin Ilit, Petach Tikvah and Tzefas.
The entire neighborhood of Kiryat Sanz was closed to traffic from the morning hours, with a special road opened for those who needed to go to Laniado Hospital.
At 4 p.m., the kabbolas ponim began in the Heichal Ohel Hasimcha tent, and that continued until 6 p.m. when the chuppah was held.
Immediately after the chuppah, the thousands of chassidim lined up to wish mazel tov to the Rebbe.
Special invitations were delivered for the chasunah seudah, and in each one, the area where the person was to be seated was indicated. There was also an indication as to where one should stand following the seudah.
In Area A was the rabbonim of Kehillas Sanz and the elder chassidim. The other areas were divided according to age: from 50-70, from 40-50, from 35-40, and so on. A special area was prepared for the yeshiva bochurim, with the talmidim of the mesivtos seated separately from the talmidim of the yeshivos gedolos.
A special staff greeted the guests from chutz la’aretz, and another staff team greeted the admorim, rabbonim, roshei yeshivos, poskim, and public figures. The staff directed everyone to their appropriate places.
At the conclusion of the mitzvah tantz, in the early morning hours, a huge caravan of buses transported the attendees back to their homes.
As mentioned, the chosson was critically hurt at the age of two when he fell out of a third-floor window. Doctors predicted he would suffer from irreversible brain damage. Against all odds, the boy completely recovered. The chosson‘s doctor, who did not give the boy a chance, was invited to the wedding to witness the occasion up close.
More than 10,000 guests attended the wedding. Among the many guests who attended the wedding were the admorim of Ger and Belz, as well as Rav Nissim karelitz and Rav Boruch Mordechai Ezrachi.
The chosson and his father were escorted into the wedding on an ornate horse-drawn carriage accompanied by other chassidim who also rode in on horses.
The Sanz Yeshiva cook, R’ Aharon Levinstein, reported that he worked for a month straight preparing some 19,000 dishes for the chasunah and the surrounding celebrations. The women’s dishes were supplied by an external catering company from Bnei Barak.
Acting Netanya Mayor Rabbi Shimon Sher, a Sanzer chossid, said that this was the largest event the chassidus ever held.
See below for photos of the wedding:
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{Dovid Bernstein-Matzav.com/Yair Alpert-Matzav.com Israel}
