Kalonimos Kalman Epstein

Born into a rabbinical family in Neustadt (now in Poland), Kalonimos Kalman “Kalmish” Epstein grew up in Kraków and came to be the foremost disciple of Elimelech of Lizhensk, a leading disciple of the Ba‘al Shem Tov. Epstein established the first major Hasidic presence in Kraków. His magnum opus, Ma’or va-shemesh, is heavily influenced by Kabbalah and contains both his teachings on the Pentateuch as well as his advocacy of the paramount need for tsadikim as role models. He did not establish a Hasidic dynasty, though his son Aaron succeeded him in diffusing Hasidism in western Galicia.