Part of the third generation of Hassidic leaders, he was the primary disciple of the Maggid of Mezeritch.
[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.
In 1777 the two, along with 300 followers, emigrated to Eretz Israel,[1] settling in Safed, Ottoman Syria.
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.