Dov Ber of Mezeritch

Who was Dov Ber of Mezeritch?

Rabbi Dov Ber ben Avraham of Mezeritch, also known as the Maggid of Mezritch, was a disciple of Rabbi Yisrael Baal Shem Tov, the founder of Hasidic Judaism, and was chosen as his successor to lead the early movement. Rabbi Dov Ber is regarded as the first systematic exponent of the mystical philosophy underlying the teachings of the Baal Shem Tov, and through his teaching and leadership, the main architect of the movement. He established his base in Mezhirichi, which moved the centre of Hasidism from the Baal Shem Tov's Medzhybizh, where he focused his attention on raising a close circle of great disciples to spread the movement. After his death, avoiding the unified leadership of the first two generations, this third generation of leadership took their different interpretations and disseminated across appointed regions of Eastern Europe. Under the inspiration of their teacher, this rapidly spread Hasidism beyond the Ukraine, to Poland, Galicia and Russia.

His teachings appear in Magid Devarav L'Yaakov, Or Torah, Likutim Yekarim, Or Ha'emet, Kitvei Kodesh, Shemuah Tovah, and in the works authored by his disciples. His inner circle of disciples, known as the Chevraia Kadisha, included his son Rabbi Avraham HaMalach, Rabbi Nachum of Czernobyl, Rabbi Elimelech of Lizhensk, Rabbi Zusha of Hanipol, Rabbi Levi Yitzchok of Berditchev, Rabbi Boruch of Medzhybizh, Rabbi Aharon of Karlin, Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Vitebsk, Rabbi Shmuel Shmelke of Nikolsburg and Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi.