The Rizhin Hasidic Dynasty was founded by Rabbi Yisrael Friedman of Rizhin (1796–1850), a great-grandson of Rabbi Dov Ber, the Magid of Mezritsh, successor to the Baal Shem Tov. Rabbi Yisrael had six sons and four daughters. His two oldest sons, Shalom Yosef (1813–1851) and Avraham Yaakov (1819–1883) both have their Yahrzeits this Shabbat, the 11th of Elul. Rabbi Avraham Yaakov is known as the First Rebbe of Sadagora, while his older brother, who outlived Rabbi Yisrael by only ten months, is known simply as Rebbe of Sadagora. After fleeing Russia in the early 1840s to escape persecution by the Tsar, Rabbi Yisrael settled in Sadagora, Bucovina, the easternmost part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. There he reestablished his opulent court. By virtue of his personality and unique Hasidic doctrines (the “regal way”), Rabbi Yisrael successfully headed the largest and most influential Hasidic community in the southwestern districts of the Pale of Settlement. The stature of this dynasty, with its thousands of followers and considerable material wealth, was also reinforced by the marriages of his ten children and many grandchildren to members of other Hasidic dynasties and to scions of rich banking families from Berdyczów. The dynasty of Hasidic leaders descended from the Friedman family, whose center was in Sadagora (with important offshoots in Ştefăneşti, Czortków, Husiatyń, Buhuşi, and Boyan), occupied a prominent and highly influential position in Hasidic society in Ukraine, Bucovina, Galicia, and Romania until the Holocaust. After Rabbi Yisrael’s death, his eldest son, Rabbi Shalom Yosef, presided at Sadagora for less than a year, dying shortly after his father. The better known of Rabbi Shalom Yosef’s two sons was Rabbi Yitzchak of Buhuşi, who established his court at Buhuşi in 1860, becoming the most important Hasidic leader in Romania in the second half of the nineteenth century. He supported the Jewish community in the Land of Israel, helping the founders of Rosh Pinah (located in the Upper Galilee, one of the oldest Zionist settlements in Israel, founded in 1882 by thirty families from Romania). After Shalom Yosef’s death, the Sadagora court was led by the eldest of his younger brothers, Rabbi Avraham Yaakov, a gifted leader and organizer. He maintained the grand lifestyle of his father’s court and immersed himself in the mysticism of Kabbalah, as had his father. The combination of earthly royalty and spiritual depth attracted both Jews and Christians to his court. Thousands of Jews sought his wisdom and counsel. He also entertained visits from prominent Christians, including princes, counts, and writers who published articles about him in newspapers in Vienna, Berlin, Frankfurt, Prague, and other locales. In thirty years as a leader, he further reinforced the dynasty, consolidating its position as a flourishing branch of Hasidism. Active in public affairs, he was among the founders of the Makhzikey ha-Das (Defenders of Faith) organization. He actively supported Sadagora Hasidim in the Land of Israel, heading the Volhynia Yeshiva there and collecting funds for the construction of the Tiferet Yisrael synagogue in Jerusalem, which was named for his father. Rabbi Avraham Yaakov’s elder son, Yitzchak, established a court at Boyan in 1886, making it a major Hasidic center, while his younger son Yisrael succeeded his father at Sadagora. Three of Rabbi Yisroels four other sons became Hasidic leaders, as did their sons. (One son was bit of a black sheep.) Of his four daughters, two married into families of Hasidic leaders. The other two married into banking families, but their sons became Hasidic leaders. At the outbreak of World War I, many leaders of this dynasty abandoned their courts in Galicia and resettled in Vienna, where most of them remained until the Holocaust. Many favored the ideals of the Chibat Zion movement, and some in fact settled in the Land of Israel and reestablished their courts there. Today the only active branches of the dynasty are Sadagora in Bene Berak and Boyan-Rizhin in Jerusalem. Not many people know that the globally popular song Hava Nagila is based on a nigun (wordless melody) of the Sadagora Hasidim. How it went from Ukraine to youtube is explained in a New York Times video: nytimes/video/arts/artsspecial/100000001861567/a-portal-into-history.html#100000001861567 geni/people/Harav-Shalom-Yosef-Friedman-Sadigura-Rebbe/6000000004066882859?through=6000000000644851467 geni/people/Avraham-Friedman/6000000000644851467?through=6000000000644946559 (Posted by Edna Kalka Grossman whose third cousin six times removed is married to Rabbi Yisrael Friedmans grandaughter - Rabbi Avraham Yaakovs daughter - Rabbi Shalom Yosefs niece)
Posted on: Fri, 05 Sep 2014 21:30:01 +0000
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