The Bobover- full name: Tzanz-Bobov-Kloisenberger- sect of
Hasidic Judaism is named for the
shtetl (small town) of
Bobov in Western
Galicia. The first Grand Bobover Rebbe was
Chaim Elbershtrom (1797-1876). The current Grand Bobover Rebbe is
Rabbi Naftali Halberstam; he inherited this position from his father in 2000. There are currently an estimated 50,000 Bobober Hasidim living in
Borough Park, Brooklyn*. There are also Bobover communities in
Montreal,
Toronto,
Miami,
London,
Antwerp and a number of cities in Israel. Bobover Hasidim can be recognized on sight by a unique tradition of dress. They typically wear white knee socks pulled
over their black pants, as opposed to members of other sects, who are allowed to wear their socks
under their pants.
The Bobover sect is known for its music. In the early 1960's,
Velvel Pasternak's Chassidic Chorale released the two volume album
Songs of the Bobover Chasidim, a collection of
niggunim (tunes). Another Bobover tradition is the
Purimshpiel, an elaborate play (costs currently exceed $10,000 a year) put on for the holiday of
Purim. While the Purimshpiel was performed by communities of many sects in pre-war Europe, the Bobovers were the first sect to resume the tradition post-war, in the 1970s. They currently incorporate
slapstick,
satire, and
homily into the production, which takes place at the central Bobover
Beis Midrash (house of study) in Borough Park.
*http://www.pbs.org/alifeapart/intro.html