ר׳ נחמן מברסלב

ר׳ נחמן בן שמחה ופייגא (1772–1810), known as ר׳ נחמן מברסלב, founded the Breslov school of Hasidism. Born in Medzhybizh, he was a maternal great-grandson of ר׳ ישראל בעל שם טוב and a paternal grandson of ר׳ נחמן מהורודנקה. After marrying young, he lived near his wife's family and then in Medvedivka, where he began attracting disciples. His dangerous 1798–1799 pilgrimage through Istanbul to Haifa, Tiberias and Safed—followed by escape from Acre during Napoleon's campaign—became a decisive spiritual turning point in his own account. After brief residence in Zlatopol, he settled in Bratslav in 1802; there ר׳ נתן שטרנהרץ became his principal disciple, recorder and editor. ר׳ נחמן taught an intensely personal path centered on faith, joy amid spiritual struggle, daily hitbodedut or direct solitary speech with God, the role of the tzaddik, melody, storytelling and continual renewal. His claims and critique of contemporary Hasidic leadership provoked opposition, notably from ר׳ אריה לייב משפולה, while ר׳ לוי יצחק מברדיצ׳ב defended him. Tuberculosis led him to seek treatment in Lviv and finally to move to Uman, where he chose burial near victims of the 1768 massacre and died during Sukkot in 1810. He appointed no dynastic successor; Breslov continued through ר׳ נתן שטרנהרץ while retaining ר׳ נחמן as its sole rebbe. His grave became a major pilgrimage center. Much biographical detail derives from insider texts recorded by ר׳ נתן שטרנהרץ, so devotional claims are distinguished here from independently datable travel and publication history.