Menachem Mendel of Vitebsk

Menachem Mendel of Vitebsk
Personal life
Bornc. 1730
Vitebsk (?)
Died1788
Tiberias, Ottoman Syria
Religious life
ReligionJudaism
DenominationHasidic Judaism
Jewish leader
TeacherMaggid of Mezeritch
The Karlin synagogue today in Tiberias, Israel.

Menachem Mendel of Vitebsk (1730?–1788),[1] also known as Menachem Mendel of Horodok, was an early leader of Hasidic Judaism. Part of the third generation of Hassidic leaders, he was the primary disciple of the Maggid of Mezeritch.

In 1773, he settled in Vitebsk, and spread Hasidism throughout Belarus.[2]

In the winter of 1772, he - along with Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi (who regarded Rabbi Menachem Mendel as his Rebbe after the Maggid's passing) - went to the Vilna Gaon with the aim of convincing him to rescind his ban on Hasidism, but the Vilna Gaon would not receive them.

After the Maggid's death, Rabbi Menachem Mendel, along with fellow disciple Rabbi Abraham Kalisker ("Kalisker") settled in Horodok.

Immigration to Israel

In 1777 the two, along with 300 followers, emigrated to Eretz Israel,[1] settling in Safed that September after six month of travel.[3] In 1783, the group relocated to Tiberias, after either facing persecution from local Ottoman authorities or because of friction with followers of Sabbatai Zevi.[4][5] He continued to guide those of his followers remaining in Europe via epistles delivered by emissaries. In 1785, he built a small synagogue in Tiberias which, rebuilt after the Galilee earthquake of 1837, still stands today as the Karlin-Stolin synagogue.[6]

His son, Moshe, married a Sephardi woman from Jerusalem, but he died in 1799.[7]

Legacy

The Tanya (see "Compiler's Preface") is partially based on the works of Rabbi Menachem Mendel.

Menachem Mendel of Vitebsk is the subject of 15 of the stories in Martin Buber's Tales of the Hasidim.

Works

  • P'ri Ha'Aretz
  • P'ri Ha'Eitz
  • Likkutei Amarim

References

  1. 1 2 Tauber, Yanki. "R. Menachem Mendel of Vitebsk (Horodoker) - Jewish Knowledge Base". Chabad.org. Retrieved 2015-05-17.
  2. ↑ Barnavi, Eli, ed. (1992). ""Pietists" and "Opponents"". The Historical Atlas of the Jewish People. Hutchinson. pp. 162–163. ISBN 0-09-177593-0.
  3. ↑ Kahn, Nadia (2020-06-30). "A Plague on the Shores of the Sea of Galilee". Jewish Review of Books. Retrieved 2026-03-28.
  4. ↑ Haran, Raya (February 12, 2010). "Menaḥem Mendel of Vitebsk". YIVO Encyclopedia of Jews in Eastern Europe. Retrieved March 27, 2026. At first the group settled in Safed, but they encountered opposition there and after three years moved to Tiberias.
  5. ↑ Salia, Yuri (2018). Thanksgiving All Year Round: A Memoir. Academic Studies Press. ISBN 9781618115065.
  6. ↑ "A Plague on the Shores of the Sea of Galilee". Jewish Review of Books. Retrieved March 27, 2026.
  7. ↑ https://encyclopedia.yivo.org/article/1229


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