The Maggid of Mezeritch

The old tombstone at the gravesite of the Maggid of Mezritch and his disciples Rabbi Zusha of Anipoli and Rabbi Yehuda Leib HaKohen in Anipoli

The Maggid of Mezritch (also known as the Mezritcher Maggid, or simply, the Maggid) was the foremost disciple of the Baal Shem Tov, and one year after his histalkus was appointed as his successor and leader of the Chassidic movement as a whole. During his tenure, opposition to Chassidus grew — yet at the same time many of the greatest luminaries of the generation joined the movement. After the Maggid's histalkus, the leadership of Chassidus was divided among all his disciples. The Alter Rebbe was among the most distinguished and beloved of his talmidim, and regarded him as his "spiritual father."

Life History

Rabbi DovBer was born to R' Avraham and Chava in the town of Lukatch near Rovno, Ukraine. There is no Chabad tradition regarding his birth date.

His father was a descendant of the Tanna Rabbi Yochanan HaSandlar and earned a meager living as a melamed. On the advice of the town's rav, he sent his brilliant son DovBer to study in Lvov at the yeshiva of Rabbi Yaakov Yehoshua (author of Pnei Yehoshua).

Rabbi DovBer married (in his first marriage) Rebbetzin Keila, and after his marriage served like his father as a melamed in Mezritch. Simultaneously, he began studying Kabbalah. Later, he served as a maggid in Turchin, and subsequently in Koritz and Dubna. The Maggid lived in a small, dilapidated house and suffered severely from leg ailments. For many years after their marriage, they remained childless, and when he was thirty-six years old, his wife suggested that he divorce her so he could marry someone else who could bear him children — but the Maggid rejected her suggestion.

When the Baal Shem Tov visited the Pnei Yehoshua, he told him to inform the Maggid that he would not be able to heal his legs until he came to him. On his teacher's advice, he decided to travel to Mezhibuzh, the Baal Shem Tov's town, where he became a chassid and devoted disciple. The Baal Shem Tov promised the Maggid that he would have a great and renowned son. In 5501, his son R' Avraham "the Malach" (the Angel) was born to him and his wife.

Leader of Chassidus

The gravesite of the Maggid of Mezritch

After the passing of the Baal Shem Tov, his son Rabbi Tzvi Hirsch was appointed as his successor. However, Chassidus needed a strong leader of great stature who could firmly stand against the opponents, and Rabbi Tzvi was not quite suited for this role.

On the second day of Shavuos — 7 Sivan 5521, one year after the Baal Shem Tov's histalkus, Rabbi Tzvi stood during his holy tisch with most of his father's disciples present, and said that his father had instructed him in a dream to transfer the leadership of Chassidus to his great disciple R' DovBer of Mezritch. While speaking, R' Tzvi blessed the Maggid with mazel tov and removed his upper garment that had belonged to his father the Baal Shem Tov. He vacated his place at the head of the table, went to sit like all the other disciples, and the Maggid moved to sit at the head. He then delivered his first discourse beginning with the words "Mareihem U'maaseihem."

Rabbi DovBer, unlike the Baal Shem Tov who would travel from place to place, settled in Mezritch and from there sent his great disciples to spread Chassidus throughout Poland and beyond. By 5525, three major Chassidic centers were already established outside of Mezritch under his disciples' leadership: in Lubavitch (led by Rabbi Yissachar Ber of Lubavitch), in Karlin (led by Rabbi Aharon of Karlin and Rabbi Shlomo of Karlin), and in Horodok (led by Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Vitebsk).

The Maggid greatly desired to make aliyah to Eretz Yisrael but was prevented from Heaven.

In 5532, a severe plague broke out in Mezritch. R' Zusha of Anipoli, the Maggid's disciple, brought the Maggid and his household to Anipoli. There the Maggid lived for about seven months until his histalkus on 19 Kislev 5533.

His Torah

Unlike his teacher the Baal Shem Tov's teachings, which were delivered briefly and in points without explanation, his teachings were extensive and delivered with clear explanation.

It is said that when he would deliver his Torah teachings in Chassidus and Kabbalah, all his disciples would be overwhelmed with inspiration to the point of physical reaction — except for the Alter Rebbe.

Only two of his disciples — Rabbi Schneur Zalman (the Alter Rebbe) and the Rav of Wolpe (some say also Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Vitebsk) — received his teachings in their entirety.

Some say that in the Maggid's beis medrash they also studied many halachic rulings, not just Chassidus, as can be seen from several instances where the Alter Rebbe writes in a style that implies this.

The Maggid did not write seforim himself, and his Chassidic teachings were written down by his disciples, who published them in books (see section on his seforim). The Rebbe comments on this:

"As is known, the Maggid's seforim were written by his disciples (the Maggid's disciples with all the virtue that implies). Additionally, according to Chassidic accounts, the Maggid himself saw the seforim before they were printed (whether all the seforim were complete or only part was complete, in any case he saw them while still in manuscript form, and certainly saw several parts, especially the main sections)."

With the Alter Rebbe

The Alter Rebbe first came to the Maggid in 5524. Before coming, the Alter Rebbe, as a young avrech, deliberated whether to go to Vilna or Mezritch. He finally decided that since in Vilna they teach how to learn better, and in Mezritch they teach how to daven better, he would go to Mezritch — because he already knew a little about how to learn, but how to daven properly he did not yet know.

After two weeks of examining and studying the Maggid's approach, he decided to stay and become his devoted chassid. From then until the Maggid's histalkus, for eight years, the Alter Rebbe would travel to the Maggid for extended periods.

The relationship between the Maggid and the Alter Rebbe was like that between a father and son. The Alter Rebbe would refer to the Maggid as "the Abba" or "the Rebbe." Among all his great disciples, the Maggid particularly cherished this talmid, whom he called "Zalmanyu" or "Litvak" (from Lithuania).

When the Alter Rebbe first arrived in Mezritch, the Maggid arranged for him to study Chassidus as a chavrusa with his son, Rabbi Avraham "the Malach." The Maggid said that the Alter Rebbe would teach R' Avraham nigleh (revealed Torah). The Alter Rebbe would always move the clock hands without R' Avraham seeing, in order to extend their Chassidus study time.

Among other things, the Maggid instructed the Alter Rebbe to compile his Shulchan Aruch, with the reasons for the halachos and adding the opinions of the Acharonim.

When the Alter Rebbe was in prison, the Maggid came together with the Baal Shem Tov to visit him in his cell, and instructed him upon his release to continue spreading Toras Chassidus Chabad with even greater intensity.

It is related that on one Rosh Hashanah when the Alter Rebbe was with the Maggid, the Maggid noticed that the Alter Rebbe had not come to the tisch, and after waiting a long time sent several disciples to search for him. When the disciples reached the Maggid's shul from which the Alter Rebbe's voice could be heard, they entered and saw the Alter Rebbe rolling on the floor in deveikus, holding two table legs he had torn off in his ecstasy, while singing:

"And let every creature know that You created it... And let every being know that You formed it... And let everything that has a soul in its nostrils know that Hashem, G-d of Israel, is King and His kingdom rules over all..."

The disciples returned to the Maggid and related what they saw. The Maggid responded:

"R' Zalmania has reached such an elevated level that he can instill in inanimate objects the ability to contemplate and recognize that Hashem created them..."

Opposition to Chassidus During His Time

In 5530, negative testimony about the Maggid and his disciples was presented to the Vilna Gaon, and the Gaon accepted this testimony and ordered people to distance themselves from the Chassidim.

In the sefer Beis Rebbi it is related that when the cherem was issued against the Chassidim, the Maggid's disciples decided to issue a cherem against those who wrote the ban against them, as prescribed in the Shulchan Aruch for such cases.

Later, the Maggid's disciples went to sleep, except for the Alter Rebbe, who pretended to be asleep. After some time, the Maggid entered with a candle and went around illuminating the face of each disciple. When he reached the Alter Rebbe, he exclaimed with amazement: "This small Yid will be Rav of all the provinces of Reisen!"

Hearing the Maggid's words, the disciples awoke, and the Alter Rebbe pretended to wake up as well. The Maggid then told them: "Know that with this you have lost your head" — but you have gained this: that whenever there will be controversy between Chassidim and Misnagdim, the Chassidim will always have the upper hand! Indeed, shortly after this, the Maggid was nistalek.

His Histalkus

On Sunday, 17 Kislev 5533 — two days before his histalkus — the Maggid told the Alter Rebbe that in a person's final three days of life, they see only the dvar Hashem that exists within every physical thing. Two days later, on Tuesday, the Maggid grasped the Alter Rebbe's hands and said to him: "19 Kislev is the hilula of both of us." And on that day — 19 Kislev — the Maggid was nistalek and was buried in the town of Anipoli.

The Chevra Kadisha and the Maggid's disciples divided among themselves who would handle his tahara. In a din Torah, it was decided that the Chevra Kadisha and the disciples who were registered in their hometown's Chevra Kadisha ledger would handle the tahara. One of them was the Alter Rebbe, who was registered in the ledger in his town of Liozna. In the lottery the disciples drew to determine which limb each would attend to during the tahara, the Alter Rebbe received the note saying "rosho kesem paz" (his head is pure gold) — meaning the immersion of the head. When the Maggid's body was brought to the mikvah, the Alter Rebbe said they should let their Rebbe immerse himself, and indeed they did so — and the Maggid immersed three times.

His Testament

There are at least two known tzavaos from the Maggid. The first tzavaah was signed, in addition to the Maggid himself, by his greatest talmidim: Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Vitebsk, Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev, Rabbi Zusha of Anipoli, Rabbi Elimelech of Lizhensk, and the Alter Rebbe. In this tzavaah, the Maggid writes, among other things, that after his passing, only these five disciples who signed at the bottom of the page should handle the tahara and burial of his body, and besides them, no one else is permitted to touch.

In the second known tzavaah, personally addressed to his son Rabbi Avraham "the Malach," the Maggid instructs his son whom to associate with among his disciples and what to learn from them:

• From Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Vitebsk, listen to advice
• From Rabbi Yehuda Leib HaKohen, learn about working on middos
• From Rabbi Zusha of Anipoli, learn humility
• And to the Alter Rebbe, obey everything he says and follow all his ways — for everything that comes from his mouth is a minor prophecy, and even if he had been among the Baal Shem Tov's disciples, he would have been among his greatest students.

Restoration of the Tziyun

In the cemetery of Anipoli, an ohel was built in an area shared by the Maggid and several of his disciples, including Rabbi Zusha of Anipoli and Rabbi Yehuda Leib HaKohen, author of Ohr HaGanuz. However, during World War II, the cemetery and ohel were destroyed. After the cemetery's restoration, they poured a concrete layer over the area where the ohel had stood and erected a new joint matzeiva for the Maggid and his disciples.

Reb Aharon Chazan, a Chabad chassid (whose wife, Mrs. Nechama Leah, was an eighth-generation descendant of the Maggid and seventh-generation descendant of R' Avraham the Malach) who was in Russia, visited the Maggid's ohel before making aliyah in 5726 (1966) and discovered the deplorable neglect of the site. He arranged for concrete to be poured over the Maggid's resting place, despite the tremendous difficulty in obtaining such materials at that time, particularly for a tzaddik's kever. When he arrived in Eretz Yisrael, he told the Skulener Rebbe, who was his friend, about the condition of the tziyun. In a letter, the Rebbe responded that he wanted to transfer the matter of maintenance to the Lubavitcher Rebbe.

"And also regarding the holy gravesite of the light of Israel and his holiness, the Great Maggid of Mezritch, I request that your honor write me the details that I can show your letter to the Lubavitcher Rebbe shlita and others.

I spoke by telephone with a member of the household of the aforementioned Rebbe shlita, Rabbi [..] Chadakov, and he told me that we should prepare some details to meet with and show to his holy honor. Namely, the state of the matter and how much the repair of the gravesite will cost, who will do this work, how to send the money, who will handle the matter, and so forth."

— From a letter of the Skolener Rebbe to Rabbi Aharon Chazan

His Family

• Father: Rabbi Avraham Friedman of Lukatch
• Mother: Rebbetzin Chava
• Wife: Rebbetzin Keila (first marriage)
• Son: Rabbi Avraham "the Malach"
• Daughter: Dabba
• Father-in-law: R' Shalom Shachna of Turchin
• Sister: Ruchama, wife of Rabbi Noach Altshuler, grandfather of the Tzemach Tzedek

His Disciples

• The Alter Rebbe (Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi)
• Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev
• Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Vitebsk
• Rabbi Avraham of Kalisk
• Rabbi Menachem Nachum of Chernobyl
• Rabbi Yissachar Ber of Lubavitch
• Rabbi Zusha of Anipoli
• Rabbi Elimelech of Lizhensk
• Rabbi Aharon of Karlin
• Rabbi Shlomo of Karlin
• Rabbi Shmuel Shmelka of Nikolsburg
• Rabbi Pinchas Horowitz (the "Hafla'ah")
• Rabbi Asher Tzvi of Ostroh, author of Mayan HaChochma
• Rabbi Aharon Shmuel of Ostroh
• Rabbi Chaim Chaikel of Amdur, author of Chaim V'Chesed
• Rabbi Yehuda Leib HaKohen
• Rabbi Yona of Polotsk
• Rabbi Yisrael Hopstein, "the Maggid of Kozhnitz"
• Rabbi Yaakov Yitzchak HaLevi Horowitz, "the Chozeh of Lublin"
• Rabbi Avraham the Doctor
• Rabbi Aharon Gordon
• Rabbi Baruch of Mezhibuzh
• Rabbi Aryeh Leib, "the Grandfather of Shpoli"
• Rabbi Chaim Wolper, the "Volper"
• Rabbi Yechiel Michel of Zlotchov
• Rabbi Yaakov Yosef of Ostroh
• Rabbi Yisrael of Polotsk
• Rabbi Moshe Chaim Ephraim of Sudilkov
• Rabbi Uziel Meisels
• Rabbi Tzvi Hirsch of Nadvorna
• Rabbi Zev Wolf of Zhitomir
• Rabbi Yaakov Shimshon of Shepetovka

His Seforim

The Maggid did not write seforim himself; his teachings were recorded and printed in seforim written by his talmidim:

• Maggid Devarav L'Yaakov — This sefer was edited during his lifetime and at his request. Printed in Koritz in 5541 by the Maggid of Lutsk.
• Ohr Torah — Printed in Koritz in 5562. From a manuscript that was in the possession of Rabbi Yeshaya of Dinowitz.
• Ohr HaEmes — Printed in Hushatin in 5659. From a manuscript owned by R' Tzvi Chassid, a talmid of Rabbi Yechiel Michel of Zlotchov. The title page states that the work includes the Maggid's teachings written down by Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev.
• Darchei Yesharim — Zhitomir, 5565, attributed to the Baal Shem Tov, Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Premishlan, and the Maggid of Mezritch.
• Kisvei Kodesh — Warsaw, 5644, from a manuscript held by Rabbi Yisrael of Kozhnitz. The publisher attributed it to the Baal Shem Tov, the Maggid, Rabbi Levi Yitzchak, and Rabbi Yisrael of Kozhnitz.
• Shmuah Tovah — According to the first printing, these are divrei Torah written by his talmid Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev. Warsaw, 5698.
• Likkutim Yekarim — A text of hanhagos of the Baal Shem Tov's talmidim. Published in Lemberg in 5552 from a manuscript owned by Rabbi Meshulam Feivish Heller. The publisher attributes the content to the Baal Shem Tov, the Maggid, Rabbi Mendel of Premishlan, and Rabbi Yechiel Michel of Zlotchov.
• Dibros HaMaggid — Most were recorded at the time by his great talmid Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev.

(Almost none of the seforim from his library remain in our possession. One of the rare exceptions is the sefer Tiferes HaKodesh, which uniquely bears the Maggid's signature.)

See Also

• Sholosh Tenuos (Niggun)

Further Reading

• Rabbi Avraham Chanoch Glitzenstein, Sefer HaToldos — The Maggid of Mezritch, Kehot, Kfar Chabad, 5736 (1976).
• Nathaniel Laderberg, "The Gate to Nothingness — Chassidic Teaching in the Philosophy of Rabbi Dov Ber, the Maggid of Mezeritch", Reuven Mass Publishing, Jerusalem, 5771 (2011), from the series '100 Gates — Jewish Philosophy and Cultural Criticism.'
• Avinoam Bir, "The Journey to the Destination — The Nature of Mystical Experience in the Philosophy of the Maggid of Mezeritch", Daat 81 (2016), pp. 278–299.

External Links

• His book Maggid Devarav L'Yaakov — HebrewBooks
• His book Ohr Torah — HebrewBooks
• Exciting Discovery: The Hidden Beis Midrash of the Maggid of Mezeritch Revealed — 17 Kislev 5781 (2020)