Nachman of Bratslav
Rabbi Nachman of Bratslav (or Breslov) was the great-grandson of the Ba‘al Shem Tov. As a young man, Nachman felt drawn to commune with God and reveled in the outdoors; his religious identity and antipathy toward other Hasidic leaders strengthened after his visit to the Land of Israel in 1798–1799. In 1802, he moved to Bratslav in Ukraine and attracted followers to a new, introspective form of Hasidism. He later settled in the town of Uman, leaving no successor after his death to lead Bratslav Hasidism. Rabbi Nathan Sternhartz, his disciple and amanuensis, published Nachman’s teachings. Nachman’s most significant writings are his Sipure ma’asiyot, fantasy tales with kabbalistic and folkloristic elements; and his Likute MoHaRaN, an anthology of his homiletic teachings.
Entries in the Posen Library by This Creator
Primary Source
The Tale of a Rabbi and His Only Son
Primary Source
Tiku emunah
Related Guide
Rabbinic Scholarship, 1750–1880
Despite the challenges of the early modern period, rabbinic scholarship flourished in Central and Eastern Europe in the latter half of the eighteenth century and the first half of the nineteenth century.