Kotzker rebbe biography examples

The Kotzker and Sachachover

May 13,

We see that the Kotzker learned all the classical Seforim and he valued the same Torah as the Litvisha world.  

 Amud HaEmes starting on page details what the Kotzker said about various leaders and Seforim.    The Kotzker talks about the Rambam,  Korban Nesaniel, Maharal M’Prague, the Sefer Chovos Halevovos, the Pri Megadim, Mesudos Dovid, Pnei Yehoshua, and all the Chassidic leaders starting with the Baal Shem Tov.   

We see that the Kotkzer learned all the classical Seforim that were and are learned in the Misnagdishe &#; Litvishe world.  He knew each one and understood their Dereck Lemudo &#; their method of learning.    This is because first and foremost learning Torah was first and foremost.  They learned Gemora, the Rishonim, the Posikim, and Achronim.  I read in Professor Morris Faierstein&#;s book that the Chassidim did not learn Zohar and Kabbalah.  There is no question that the Kotzker did learn Zohar and Kabbalah but his  main learning was Neglah and not Nistar.

The Kotzker learned the Chovos Halevovs with his son Admor Dovid Morgenstern.  In HTC I heard Shiurim from the Rosh Hayeshiva, Rabbi Revah, on the Chovos HaLevoros.  This year Rabbi Weg of the Yeshiva is learning it with his Shiur.

The Kotzker learned and knew the Pri Megadim and the Chavos Daas, the Lissa Rov.  The Pri Megadim died in and the Chavos Daas died in   Kotzker was born in and I doubt that he ever met the Chavos Daas.  There is a story in Siach Sarfei Kodesh where the Chidushei Harim met the Chavos Daas.  

Read the following from the Emes Ve Emunah and Aber Harayim.  Aber Harayim is the history of Rabbi Avrohom Bornstein, known as the Avnei Nezer, and the Sachochever Rebbe, and was the son-in-law of the Kotzker.  The Avnei Nezer married the Kotzker’s oldest twin daughter, Sara Tzina, in , when he was 13 or

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Yisrael Kotzker Goes with
the Rebbe to Find the Snail

Israel Kantor (Haifa)

His second function was to act as a sort of Minister of the Interior for both the religious and civil administration. His third function was, what is called, in these days, Chief of Protocol .He was the one who decided who would be first to meet the Rabbi, who would sit next to the Rabbi at the table, and who would be honored by being called up to read from the Torah etc. Tact, diplomacy and good relations with everyone were the necessary characteristics of the person who filled these positions. Therefore, it was not surprising that when the strange idea of going out into the world to search for the &#;Techelet&#; snail occurred to the Rabbi, his Gabbai, Reb Yisroel Kotzker, should accompany him.

I do not know how the idea was conceived or how it came to fruition, but one can imagi

I write this blog with no agenda. There is no formal movement of Kotzker Chassidim today, calling out for adherents or followers (or donations). In fact the Kotzker movement (if it can be argued that it ever existed as a movement) did not survive the generation of Menachem Mendel of Kotzk (–).

His obsession with Truth was just too much for mere mortals. A movement based on an unconditional commitment to Truth is doomed to fail before it even starts.   

Yet the Kotzker’s teachings are so powerful and compelling that they draw one in to his world even if one knows the sojourn there will be only temporary. “The world”, says the Kotzker, “wants to be deceived”. Truth is so hard to find, even in religion. Especially in religion. The Kotzker once remarked; “A G-d that any dirty old man can believe in, is not the kind of G-d I want to believe in”.

The Kotzker Rebbe was probably the most outrageous religious figure to have ever existed. If he thought something to be true, he expressed it, no matter the consequences.

The Chassidic movement in general was a rebel movement in its day. It rebelled against the staid and stagnant state in which Judaism found itself. It’s founder, the Baal Shem Tov, two generations before tried to rejuvenate and reinvigorate what had become a very boring ritualistic religion void of spirituality and spontaneity. To a large extent he succeeded, and probably was responsible for saving Judaism from a slow spiritless death.

The Kotzker, too wanted to be part of this revolution. But when he looked at the Chassidim, he saw that they too were becoming staid, stagnant and spiritless. They all dressed the same, followed the same rebbes, sang the same songs and danced the same dances. The very spontaneity they sought was instead depriving them of it.

So the Kotzker became a rebel within a rebel movement.

I first ca

Polish rabbi

Menachem Mendel Morgensztern of Kotzk (Kock, Poland), better known as the Kotzker Rebbe and the Kotzker (–) was a Hasidicrabbi and leader.

Life

Born to a non-Hasidic family in Goraj near Lublin, Poland, he became attracted to Hasidic philosophy in his youth. He was known for having acquired impressive Talmudic and Kabbalistic knowledge at an early age. He was a student of Reb Bunim of Peshischa, and upon the latter's death attracted many of his followers. Morgensztern was well known for his incisive and down-to-earth philosophies, and sharp-witted sayings. He appears to have had little patience for false piety or stupidity.

From he lived in seclusion for the last twenty years of his life.

Students and legacy

The Kotzker Rebbe never published any works. He wrote many manuscripts, but he had them all burned before his death. Several collections of his sayings have been published, most notably Emes VeEmunah (Truth and Faith).

The Kotzker Rebbe's disciple Rabbi Avrohom Bornsztain, author of Avnei Nezer and first SochatchoverRebbe, was his son-in-law, having married Sara Tzina Morgenstern.

The Kotzker Rebbe is considered to be the spiritual founder upon which the Ger dynasty in Poland is based, through the teachings of its founder and the first Rebbe Rabbi Yitzchak Meir Alter, known for his work as the Chidushei Harim, who was a preeminent disciple of the Kotzker Rebb