ר׳ דוב בער ממזריטש

ר׳ דוב בער בן אברהם (c.1704–15 December 1772), the Maggid of Mezeritch, was the principal organizer and systematic teacher of the second generation of Hasidism. Born at Lokachi in Volhynia, he received advanced rabbinic education traditionally associated with ר׳ יעקב יהושע פאלק, author of פני יהושע. Before entering the Hasidic circle he lived as an ascetic kabbalist and served as a preacher in Volhynian communities including Turchyn, Korets and Rivne. In the mid-eighteenth century he became a disciple of ר׳ ישראל בעל שם טוב at Medzhybizh; the encounter redirected his spirituality from bodily mortification toward divine immanence, joy and devekut. After the Baal Shem Tov's death in 1760, most of the emerging movement's leadership gathered around the Maggid at Mezhirichi. His relatively stationary court trained and dispatched a network of disciples—including ר׳ מנחם מנדל מוויטבסק, ר׳ שניאור זלמן מלאדי, ר׳ לוי יצחק מברדיטשוב, ר׳ אלימלך מליז׳נסק and ר׳ אהרן הגדול מקרלין—who spread Hasidism across Eastern Europe. The Maggid wrote no systematic book; students edited oral teachings into מגיד דבריו ליעקב and related collections. He moved to Hannopil during a 1772 epidemic, died there on 19 Kislev 5533 and was buried in its Jewish cemetery.