Elimelech of Lizhensk

The holy Rabbi Elimelech of Lizhensk (5477 / 1717 – 21 Adar 5547 / March 11, 1787), widely known as the Rebbe Reb Elimelech, or simply by the title of his celebrated work, Noam Elimelech, was one of the foremost disciples of the Maggid of Mezeritch and the founding figure of Chassidus in Poland.

The gravesite of Rabbi Elimelech of Lizhensk

Biography

Rabbi Elimelech was born in 5477 (1717) to his father Rabbi Avraham Eliezer Lipa and his mother Mirl Mirish Mirush. In his youth he was already recognized as a formidable Torah scholar, sharp in pilpul (dialectical analysis). It was at the urging of his brother Rabbi Zusha of Anipoli that he drew close to the Maggid of Mezeritch, after which he rose to great spiritual heights.

He became known as one of the most senior and distinguished among the Maggid's disciples. Following the Maggid's passing, the Chassidim of Poland appointed him to fill his teacher's role in that region.

Rabbi Elimelech was the first to bring Chassidus to Poland, and the foremost force in spreading it there — through his influence, the majority of Polish Jewry became Chassidic.

Before his passing, he distributed his spiritual powers among several of his disciples.

The broader Chassidic world said of him: "A river goes forth from Eden — this is the holy Rabbi Elimelech, disciple of the Maggid of Mezeritch — and from there it divides into four heads," referring to the four great disciples who carried on his legacy.

He was renowned for his humility. When a Misnaged (opponent of Chassidus) once asked the Alter Rebbe to characterize the author of the Noam Elimelech — a book the Misnaged kept tucked under his bench — the Alter Rebbe replied: "Even if you had placed the man himself under your bench, he would have remained silent and said nothing."

His Book

A tradition preserved among Chabad Chassidim holds that the Alter Rebbe said: while his own book (the Tanya) is a book for beinonim (people of intermediate spiritual standing), the Noam Elimelech is a book for tzaddikim — the truly righteous. Indeed, the work describes dozens of dimensions of the tzaddik's inner life, his spiritual qualities, his conduct, and the way he draws divine blessing down upon the Jewish people.

In the 1942 edition of the book, the Frierdiker Rebbe (Previous Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn) wrote:

In response to your letter regarding the printing of the holy book Noam Elimelech — this is certainly a most lofty undertaking, and with G‑d's help many buyers will surely come forward, to keep it as a source of blessing, as with all the holy books of our holy masters of blessed memory. It is fitting to prepare a proper introduction, written in the spirit of the generation, containing the life story of the holy author, his teachers, his sons, his holy disciples, and a selection of stories and the like — for these are the adornment of holy books.

Rabbi Elimelech passed away on 21 Adar, a day marked with special solemnity across Chassidic communities to this day. Tens of thousands of Jews visit his gravesite in Lizhensk on the anniversary of his passing every year.

The Lizhensk Dynasty Today

• Rabbi Elimelech Schiff (son of Rabbi Elazar and Yuta Feiga Schiff) serves as the current Admor of Lizhensk and lives in the Ramot neighborhood of Jerusalem.

Family

Sons

• R' Elazar of Lizhensk — succeeded his father.
• R' Eliezer Lipa of Khmelnik — author of Orach LeChaim.
• R' Yaakov Rotman of Mogilnitsa.

Daughters

• Marat Mirush Alovitz.
• Marat Esther Etl — wife of Rabbi Elimelech Alboim.

Grandchildren

• R' Aryeh Leib Weisblum of Khmelnik.
• R' Naftali of Lizhensk.

Disciples

• Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Rimanov.
• Rabbi Naftali of Ropshitz.
• Rabbi Avraham Yehoshua Heschel of Apt.
• Rabbi Yaakov Yitzchak of Lublin — the Chozeh (Seer) of Lublin.
• Rabbi Yisrael Hopshtein — the Maggid of Koznitz.
• The Maor VaShemesh.

Writings

• Noam Elimelech
• Likkutei Shoshana