לא תקיפו פאת ראשכם… (קדושים יט:כז)

During the first world war the Belz court had to escape the advancing warring armies and ended up in Hungary, first in Ratzfert (Újfehértó in Hungarian) and then in Munkács (Mukachevo).  When the war ended, the Freirdige Rav,  RebYissochor Dov Rokeach zt”l moved the Belz court back to Holizsitz Galicia and, from there, directed the restoration work of the buildings in Belz, which were wrecked during the Russian occupation.

This went on for a number of years. When a group of residents from Belz arrived at Holizsitz asking the Rebbe when he would return to Belz, it so happened that a local boy was in the room, with his beautiful long curly sidelocks.  The Rebbe asked: “Are there such boys in Belz, too?” Implying that – just like hundreds of other communities – Belz after World War I, lost much of its authentic Torah-true identity, which was sadly lost in the wake of the war’s upheaval.

Being “born and bred” in Belz, the residents of Belz retorted: “There are such boys in Holizsitz because the Rebbe lives in town.  If the Rebbe would move back to Belz, there will surely be boys in Belz sporting such Peyos”.  The Freirdige Rav immediately gave his blessing to move back to Belz and arrived there in the winter of 5684 (ca. 1923).