Hasidic Judaism in Poland
Hasidic Judaism in Poland began with Elimelech Weisblum of Lizhensk (Leżajsk) (1717-1787) and to a lesser extent Shmelke Horowitz of Nikolsburg (Mikulov) (1726-1778).
Both men were leading disciples of Dov Ber of Mezeritch (Medzhybizh) (c. 1704–1772), who in part was the successor to the Baal Shem Tov (c. 1698–1760) who founded Hasidic Judaism in Western Ukraine.
Reb Elimelech also clearly believed that the rebbe was to not live a lavish lifestyle and that he must always stay humble in such a position of power.
Those four disciples were Yaakov Yitzchak Horowitz, "the Seer of Lublin" (1745-1815), Yisroel Hopstein, "the Maggid of Kozhnitz" (1737–1814), Avraham Yehoshua Heshel, "the Apter rebbe" (1748-1825) and Menachem Mendel Torem of Rimanov (1745-1815).
The Seer believed that the burden of piety was much too great for most individuals, and so one should fully place his emotional, spiritual and even physical wellbeing in the hands of his rebbe.
In essence, the Seer's principle tenant was that the rebbe must be all-encompassing figure who plays an entirely autocratic role in the lives of his followers.
Many of the Seer's disciples fully embraced this belief, which became the foundation of the Lublin philosophical school, which has deep ideological underpinnings in many contemporary Hasidic dynasties.
The leader of this coalition was Yaakov Yitzchak Rabinowicz, the "Yid Hakudosh" (1766-1813) who founded the Peshischa school of Hasidic thought based in the town of Przysucha.
Nearing the end of the 18th-century, the Yid Hakudosh left Lublin alongside a delegation of the Seer's most prodigious pupils and founded his own Hasidic school of thought in Przysucha (Peshischa).
After succeeding the Yid HaKudosh, the Rebbe Reb Bunim brought Peshischa to its highest point and kickstarted a counter-revolutionary movement which challenged the Hasidic norm.
These centers preached his ideals of rationalism, radical personhood, independence and the constant quest for authenticity, which challenged contemporary Hasidic leadership.
[5] In 1822, at the wedding of Avraham Yehoshua Heshel's grandson in Ustyluh, Ukraine, an attempt was made by the majority of the Hasidic leaders of Poland and Galicia to excommunicate the Rebbe Reb Bunim.
Several dignitaries such as Tzvi Hirsh Eichenstein of Zidichov (1763-1831) and Naftali Zvi Horowitz of Ropshitz (1760-1827) came to the wedding to publicly speak out against the Rebbe Reb Bunim, in hopes that Avraham Heshel along with other leading rabbis, would agree to excommunicate him and the Peshischa movement.
Nearing the end of the debate, Avraham Heshel turned towards Yerachmiel Rabinowicz (1784-1836), the son of the Yid Hakudosh, and asked him what he thought of the Rebbe Reb Bunim.
After the Ilui Hakudosh's death a year after, his followers accepted Israel Yitzhak Kalish of Vurke (1779-1848) from whom Vurka and Amshinov Hasidism derive.
Following this a Yeshiva was established in Sochaczew by Avrohom Bornsztain (1838-1910), the son-in-law of the Kotzker Rebbe and founder of the Sochatchov Hasidic dynasty.
