First Rebbe of Bobov, Shlomo Halberstam (1847 – 1905)

Bobov originated with Shlomo Halberstam, who was the grandson of Grand Rabbi Chaim Halberstam of Sanz,^[4] in the Galician village of Bobowa.^[1]

While most of the early yeshivos (Talmudical academies) originated in Lithuania, the 19th century saw the opening of similar institutions in Poland. The first yeshiva in Poland was established by the first Bobover Rebbe in 1881 in Vishnitsa, where he was rabbi then; and it later moved with him to Bobov.

Second Bobover Rebbe, Benzion Halberstam (1874 – 1941)

His work was continued by his son, Grand Rabbi Ben Zion Halberstam, author of Kedushas Tzion.^[5] The Bobov Yeshiva was originally situated only in the town of Bobov itself. However, under his guidance, the court grew in numbers, with Hasidic youth flocking to Bobov. Subsequently, as many as sixty branches of the yeshiva under the name Etz Chaim were established throughout Galicia.

During World War II, the Bobov Hasidic movement was destroyed. The second Rebbe himself was murdered in the Holocaust, together with family members^[1] and thousands of his followers.

Third Bobover Rebbe, Shlomo Halberstam (1908 – 2000)

Barely 300 Hasidim survived, and the Rebbe's son, Shlomo Halberstam, took it upon himself to rebuild Bobov.^[6] He first settled in the West Side of Manhattan, later moving to the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn. The yeshiva, which was originally located at 184 Brooklyn Avenue, later moved to the nearby Borough Park neighborhood. Shlomo Halberstam was known for his wisdom, his caring for others, and his steadfastness in not taking sides in disputes.

Over the more than fifty years^[7][6] that Shlomo Halberstam was Rebbe of Bobov, he founded and built a worldwide network of synagogues, Hasidic schools for boys and girls,^[8] mesivtas (high schools), and post-high school houses of learning. Besides schools, a summer camp for boys was founded in 1957 in Ferndale, New York, and a girls camp, Camp Gila, was founded a few years later. At the time of his death in August 2000, he was mourned by more followers than his father had in pre-war Poland. At his funeral it was publicly announced that his oldest son Naftali would succeed him as Rebbe, and his younger brother Ben Zion would serve as Rav Hatzair (assistant rabbi).

Fourth Bobover Rebbe, Naftali Halberstam (1931 – 2005)

With Shlomo Halberstam's death, his older son, Naftali Zvi Halberstam, succeeded him. Naftali Zvi died on March 23, 2005^[1] (12th of Adar II, 5765), at age 74, leaving a wife, two daughters, and two sons-in-law: Yehoshua Rubin, Rav of Bobov-45; and Mordechai Dovid Unger, Rebbe of Bobov-45.

Fifth and current Rebbe of Bobov, Ben Zion Halberstam (1955 –)

After Naftali Tzvi Halberstam died in 2005, a dispute arose^[9] among Bobover Hasidim as to who should attain the dynasty leadership. Some began to follow Ben Zion Aryeh Leibish Halberstam, the younger half brother of the late Rebbe, while others followed his son-in-law Unger, who was older by one year.^[10] Unger had already ensconced himself firmly within the community by then, and could not challenge his own father's leadership of Dombrov, which anyway was not as substantial a dynasty.^[11] The matter of succession was brought before a beth din (religious court) in 2007, which ruled that Halberstam would be declared the fifth Rebbe of Bobov (אדמו"ר מבאבוב) with its headquarters on 48th Street in Borough Park,^[12] while Unger would be Rebbe of Bobov-45 (אדמו"ר מבאבוב-45), located on 45th Street.^{[12][13][14][15][16]} While the former community retained the rights to the name "Bobov", Unger's faction was permitted to use the name, provided that the qualifier be added to it.^[17]

History of Bobov-45

The third Bobover Rebbe, Shlomo Halberstam, rebuilt the Bobov Hasidic dynasty in the United States after losing his wife and most of his children in the Holocaust. His son Naftali, who survived,^[18] became the fourth Rebbe upon his father's death. He had no sons but left two daughters, one of whom married Yehoshua Rubin, and the other Mordechai Dovid Unger. In 2005, after Naftali's death, a group of Bobover Hasidim loyal to his son-in-law, Mordechai Dovid Unger, preferred him to take over the position of Rebbe of Bobov.

The dispute was taken to a beth din (arbitration panel), which ruled that Halberstam held the rights to the name "Bobov", and to all Bobov institutions. Unger was allowed to use the name Bobov, provided that a qualifier be added to it.^[19] The suffix "-45" was henceforth adopted in tribute to the street on which the community center of the sect was located at the time. In addition, the beth din ordered Bobov to pay $6,200,000 to Bobov-45's Rebbe and dayan in twenty-five quarterly installments, as an allotment of their faction's share of the inheritance of the Bobov enterprise's assets, it is unknown what the value of the assets were at the time.

First and current Grand rabbi of Bobov-45 Mordechai Dovid Unger (1954 –)

Unger, the first Grand Rabbi of Bobov-45, is the younger son-in-law of the fourth Bobover Rebbe, Naftali Halberstam. Unger has been active in the wider Jewish community.^[20] Yehoshua Rubin, the older son-in-law of Halberstam, is the current dayan and rabbinical leader of the sect.

Institutions

Community institutions, such as a synagogue, have been built within Bobov-45. Other Bobov infrastructure includes a Yeshiva,^[21] beth midrash (study hall),^[22] cheder (elementary school),^[23] yeshiva ketana (secondary school),^[24] mesivta,^[25] girls school,^[26] day camp,^[27] and wedding halls.^[28]