Klonimus Kalman Epstein

As a child, after selling bagels baked in the home of his parents to assist in his family's support, Epstein would sneak into the beth midrash and listen to the Torah sermons given by Krakow scholars, including Yitzchak Halevi, Chief Rabbi of Kraków.

"[citation needed] Epstein went on to become the most favored of Elimelech's students, also acting as the rabbi's personal "shamash" (assistant).

Upon his arrival in Krakow, Epstein was met with great opposition by the misnagdim, opponents of the Chassidic movement, but eventually they came to respect him.

Toward the end of his life, Epstein instructed his younger son Aharon to gather together all of his writings and sermons, which was later published as the sefer Maor Vashemesh - the title by which he later became known.

His older son Yosef Baruch became known as the "Guhter Yid" (the Good Jew) or the "miracle worker of Neustadt."