Menachem Mendel of Kotzk | |
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Title | Kotzker Rebbe |
Personal | |
Born | Menachem Mendl Morgensztern 1787 Goray, Poland |
Died | 27 January 1859 (22 Shvat 5619) |
Religion | Judaism |
Spouse | Glike Nay, Chaya Lipszuc |
Children | Dovid Morgensztern Sara Cyna Brucha Binyomin Moshe Yeruchom |
Parents |
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Jewish leader | |
Predecessor | (first rebbe) |
Successor | Dovid Morgensztern Yitzchak Meir Alter |
Began | 1827 |
Ended | 1859 |
Dynasty | Kotzk |
Part of a series on |
Peshischa Hasidism |
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Rebbes & Disciples |
Menachem Mendel Morgensztern of Kotzk (Kock, Poland), better known as the Kotzker Rebbe and the Kotzker (1787–1859) was a Hasidic rabbi and leader.
Born to a non-Hasidic family in Goraj near Lublin, Poland, he became attracted to Hasidic philosophy in his youth. He was known for having acquired impressive Talmudic and Kabbalistic knowledge at an early age. He was a student of Reb Bunim of Peshischa, and upon the latter's death attracted many of his followers. Morgensztern was well known for his incisive and down-to-earth philosophies, and sharp-witted sayings. He appears to have had little patience for false piety or stupidity.
From 1839 he lived in seclusion for the last twenty years of his life.[1]
The Kotzker Rebbe never published any works. He wrote many manuscripts, but he had them all burned before his death. Several collections of his sayings have been published, most notably Emes VeEmunah (Truth and Faith).
The Kotzker Rebbe's disciple Rabbi Avrohom Bornsztain, author of Avnei Nezer and first Sochatchover Rebbe, was his son-in-law, having married Sara Tzina Morgenstern.
The Kotzker Rebbe is considered to be the spiritual founder upon which the Ger dynasty in Poland is based, through the teachings of its founder and the first Rebbe Rabbi Yitzchak Meir Alter, known for his work as the Chidushei Harim, who was a preeminent disciple of the Kotzker Rebbe and his brother in law through his second wife.
One of his major students was Rabbi Mordechai Yosef Leiner of Izbica.
Main article: Kotsk (Hasidic dynasty) |