Magid devarav le-Ya‘akov (He Declares His Word to Jacob)

Dov Ber of Mezritsh

1781

Tzimtzum: An Act of Love

“Why did God reveal the account of Creation to Israel? Because they said ‘We will do’ before ‘and we will understand’ (Exod. 24:7).”

This may be understood in the light of what the Rabbis said: that God’s first thought in Creation was to create Israel. His earliest will was to create the world so that Israel would be…

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Creator Bio

Dov Ber of Mezritsh

1704–1772

Dov Ber, the Magid (preacher) of Mezritsh, was the spiritual successor to the Ba‘al Shem Tov (Besht). Born in Volhynia, he was a teacher who consulted the Besht to improve his health, and thereafter abandoned his ascetic practices and adopted the more emotional and contemplative expressions of Hasidism. After the Besht’s death in 1760, Dov Ber settled in Mezritsh, where he pioneered the role of the tsadik and influenced major Hasidic dynasties. It was from him, more than from the Besht, that Hasidism grew. His teachings were later published by his disciples.

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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. 

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