Spinka is the name of a Hasidic group within Haredi Judaism. The group originated in a city called Szaplonca, in Máramaros County, Kingdom of Hungary (today Săpânţa, Romania).

Spinka rebbes

The first Spinka Rebbe was Rabbi Yosef Meir Weiss, author of Imrei Yosef. He was succeeded by his son, Rabbi Yitzchak Isaac Weiss, author of Chakal Yitzchak. The Chakal Yitzchak was murdered by the Nazis in the Holocaust. Another son, Naftali Weiss, the Bilker Rebbe, is a prominent subject in the Auschwitz Album of rare photographs taken at the death camp. After World War II, the group was divided among many Rebbes, descendants of the Imrei Yosef. Spinka Rebbes can be found in Williamsburg, Borough Park, Flatbush, Kiryas Joel, Monsey, Bnei Brak, London, Antwerp, throughout Israel, and Europe. All are offshoots of the original dynasty. Several Spinka Rebbes live in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn alone (Toldos Tzvi, Beis Yitxchok, and Beis Shmuel Tzvi communities), and Israeli branches are found in Jerusalem and Bnei Brak. Among the surnames of the Spinka Rebbes are Weiss (or Weisz), Kahana, and Horowitz.

Lineage of Spinka rebbes

Lineage of Spinka Rebbes (Horowitz branch)

Lineage of Spinka Rebbes (Kahana branch)

Lineage of Zidichov Spinka Rebbes (Kahana branch)

Financial fraud

In 2009, Rabbi Naftali Tzi Weisz and five other Spinka members pleaded guilty to charges in what prosecutors called "a decade-long tax fraud and money-laundering scheme".

Image gallery