A Rebbe or Admor is the spiritual leader in the Hasidic movement, and the personalities of its dynasties. The titles of Rebbe and Admor, which used to be a general honor title even before the beginning of the movement, became, over time, almost exclusively identified with its Tzadikim.
Misnagdim was a religious movement among the Jews of Eastern Europe which resisted the rise of Hasidism in the 18th and 19th centuries. The Misnagdim were particularly concentrated in Lithuania, where Vilnius served as the bastion of the movement, but anti-Hasidic activity was undertaken by the establishment in many locales. The most severe clashes between the factions took place in the latter third of the 18th century; the failure to contain Hasidism led the Misnagdim to develop distinct religious philosophies and communal institutions, which were not merely a perpetuation of the old status quo but often innovative. The most notable results of these efforts, pioneered by Chaim of Volozhin and continued by his disciples, were the modern, independent yeshiva and the Musar movement. Since the late 19th century, tensions with the Hasidim largely subsided, and the heirs of Misnagdim adopted the epithet Litvishe or Litvaks.
Neo-Hasidism, Neochassidut, or Neo-Chassidus, is an approach to Judaism in which people learn beliefs and practices of Hasidic Judaism, and incorporate it into their own lives or prayer communities, yet without formally joining a Hasidic group. Over the 20th century neo-Hasidism was popularized by the works of writers such as Hillel Zeitlin, Martin Buber, Abraham Joshua Heschel, Lawrence Kushner, Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, and Arthur Green.
Medzhybizh, formerly Mezhybozhe, is a rural settlement in Khmelnytskyi Oblast, western Ukraine. It is located in Khmelnytskyi Raion, 25 kilometres from Khmelnytskyi on the main highway between Khmelnytskyi and Vinnytsia at the confluence of the Southern Buh and Buzhok rivers. Medzhybizh was once a prominent town in the former Podolia Province. Its name is derived from "mezhbuzhye", which means "between the Buzhenka Rivers". It is known as the birthplace of the Jewish Hasidic mystical religious movement. Medzhybizh hosts the administration of Medzhybizh settlement hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine. Current population: 1,237 ; 1,731,.
Munkatch Hasidism is a Hasidic sect within Haredi Judaism of mostly Hungarian Hasidic Jews. It was founded and led by Polish-born Grand Rebbe Shlomo Spira, who was the rabbi of the town of Strzyżów (1858–1882) and Munkacs (1882–1893). Members of the congregation are mainly referred to as Munkacs Hasidim, or Munkatcher Hasidim. It is named after the Hungarian town in which it was established, Munkatsh.
A maggid, also spelled as magid, is a traditional Jewish religious itinerant preacher, skilled as a narrator of Torah and religious stories. A chaplain of the more scholarly sort is called a darshan. The title of maggid mesharim probably dates from the sixteenth century.
Ohel is a structure built around a Jewish grave as a sign of prominence of the deceased. Ohelim cover the graves of some Hasidic Rebbes, important rabbis, tzadikim, prominent Jewish community leaders, and biblical figures. Typically a small masonry building, an ohel may include room for visitors to pray, meditate, and light candles in honor of the deceased.
Off the derech is a Yeshiva-English expression used to describe the state of a Jew who has left an Orthodox way of life or community, and whose new lifestyle is secular, non-Jewish, or of a non-Orthodox form of Judaism, as part of a contemporary social phenomenon tied to the Digital, Postmodern and Post-postmodern eras. In its broadest sense it can also include those changing to a milder form of Orthodoxy. Despite the term's pejorative and controversially dichotomic and definitive nature, it has become popular in use among Orthodox people, is found in mainstream literature, and has also been reclaimed by some OTD individuals.
Yitzhak Aharon Korff is the present Rebbe of Zvhil – Mezhbizh. Since 1975 he has been the Chaplain of the City of Boston and spiritual leader of Congregation Bnai Jacob, Zvhil–Mezhbizh Beit Medrash of Boston, Miami, and Jerusalem, serving also with the Chief Rabbis of Israel as Spiritual Leader of The Jerusalem Great Synagogue. He is a dayan of the BaDaTz Boston Beth din and Vaad HaRabbonim. He is also principal of Korff Associates, consultants in business, diplomacy and international law and relations, Consul to the government of Austria and publisher of the Boston-based Jewish newspaper The Jewish Advocate.
Mezhbizh is the name of the town of Medzhybizh in the present Ukraine which is significant as both the source of a Hasidic dynasty that bears its name and as a symbolic name for the roots of Hasidism.
Abraham Gershon of Kitov, also known as Rabbi Gershon of Brody, was probably born in or near Kuty (Kitov), Poland around 1701 and died in Jerusalem in 1761. He is best known as the Baal Shem Tov's brother-in-law.
Ze'ev Wolf Kitzes was a noted Hasidic rabbi.
Yisroel Meir Gabbai is a Breslover Hasid who travels the world to locate, repair and maintain Jewish cemeteries, kevarim (gravesites) and ohels of Torah notables and tzaddiks. He is the founder of Agudas Ohalei Tzadikim.
Mordechai Yissachar Ber Leifer was the third Rebbe of the Pittsburgh Hasidic dynasty. Born in the United States, he joined his father, Grand Rabbi Avraham Abba Leifer, in Ashdod, Israel, to serve as rosh yeshiva of a new Pittsburgher yeshiva in that city in 1981. After succeeding his father as Rebbe, he expanded the Hasidic presence in Ashdod with new schools and institutions, and increased the number of Pittsburgher families to nearly 200 in Ashdod. He also shepherded Pittsburgher Hasidim in Jerusalem, Bnei Brak, Beit Hilkia, New York City, and California. An accomplished Torah scholar and musical composer, he led the Hasidut for three decades until his death in 2020.
A Baal Shem was a historical Jewish practitioner of Practical Kabbalah and supposed miracle worker. Employing various methods, Baalei Shem are claimed to heal, enact miracles, perform exorcisms, treat various health issues, curb epidemics, protect people from disaster due to fire, robbery or the evil eye, foresee the future, decipher dreams, and bless those who sought his powers.
Israel ben Eliezer or Yisroel ben Eliezer, known as the Baal Shem Tov or as the BeShT, was a Jewish mystic and healer who is regarded as the founder of Hasidic Judaism. "Besht" is the acronym for Baal Shem Tov, which means "Master of the Good Name," a term for a holy man who wields the secret name of God.
Luzer Twersky is an American film and television actor. He is best known for his role in the film Felix and Meira, for which he garnered a Jutra Award nomination as Best Supporting Actor at the 18th Jutra Awards and won the Best Actor award at the Amiens International Film Festival and the Torino International Film Festival.
Rabbi Akiva Weingarten is a German-American liberal rabbi. He serves as the state rabbi of Saxony, the rabbi of the city of Dresden, Germany from 2019, and the Liberal Jewish community "Migwan" in Basel, Switzerland. He is the founder of the Haichal Besht synagogue in Bnei Brak, Israel, the Haichal Besht synagogue in Berlin, and the Besht Yeshiva in Dresden.
The Synagogue Neustadt on Eisenbahnstr. in Dresden is a mid-19th century building, built in 1839 as the main hall of the Leipzig train station in Dresden and was the first long-distance train station in Central Europe that went between the cities Dresden and Leipzig and was an important architectural monument in Germany.
