Avraham HaMalach () also Abraham ben Dov Ber Friedman HaMalach (1739 – 25 September 1776) as an 18th-century

Hasidic Hasidism () or Hasidic Judaism is a religious movement within Judaism that arose in the 18th century as a spiritual revival movement in contemporary Western Ukraine before spreading rapidly throughout Eastern Europe. Today, most of those aff ...

Rabbi and son of the

Maggid of Mezeritch Dov Ber ben Avraham of Mezeritch (; died December 4, 1772 O.S.), also known as the ''Maggid of Mezeritch'' or ''Mezeritcher Maggid'', was a disciple of Rabbi Israel ben Eliezer (the Baal Shem Tov), the founder of Hasidic Judaism, and was chosen ...

. He is well-known for his extreme piety and observance of

asceticism Asceticism is a lifestyle characterized by abstinence from worldly pleasures through self-discipline, self-imposed poverty, and simple living, often for the purpose of pursuing Spirituality, spiritual goals. Ascetics may withdraw from the world ...

, the source of his nickname, "the Angel".

Biography

Avraham, born in Mezeritch, was the son of Dov Ber, the Maggid of Mezeritch and the Maggid's wife, Chava, daughter of the Rabbi Meshulam Faybush Horowitz of

Kremenets Kremenets (, ; ; ) is a city in Ternopil Oblast, western Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Kremenets Raion, and lies north-east of the Pochaiv Lavra. The city is situated in the historic region of Volhynia and features the 12th-c ...

. According to Hasidic tradition, the couple were unable to have a child, and Chava wanted to divorce her husband, but he met with the

Baal Shem Tov Israel ben Eliezer (According to a forged document from the "Kherson Geniza", accepted only by Chabad, he was born in October 1698. Some Hasidic traditions place his birth as early as 1690, while Simon Dubnow and other modern scholars argue f ...

, and the Besht said that Chava would have their long-awaited child, and that the child would become a saint. Chava discovered she was pregnant within the year. He showed an affinity for

Kabbalah Kabbalah or Qabalah ( ; , ; ) is an esoteric method, discipline and school of thought in Jewish mysticism. It forms the foundation of Mysticism, mystical religious interpretations within Judaism. A traditional Kabbalist is called a Mekubbal ...

from a young age. At the request of his father, he studied with

Shneur Zalman of Liadi Shneur Zalman of Liadi, (; September 4, 1745 – December 15, 1812 O.S. / 18 Elul 5505 – 24 Tevet 5573) commonly known as the Alter Rebbe or Baal Hatanya, was a rabbi and the founder and first Rebbe of Chabad, a branch of Hasidic Judaism. He ...

, who taught him the

Babylonian Talmud The Talmud (; ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the centerpiece of Jewi ...

and the commentaries of

Rashi Shlomo Yitzchaki (; ; ; 13 July 1105) was a French rabbi who authored comprehensive commentaries on the Talmud and Hebrew Bible. He is commonly known by the List of rabbis known by acronyms, Rabbinic acronym Rashi (). Born in Troyes, Rashi stud ...

and

Tosafists Tosafists were rabbis of France, Germany, Bohemia and Austria, who lived from the 12th to the mid-15th centuries, in the period of Rishonim. The Tosafists composed critical and explanatory glosses (questions, notes, interpretations, rulings and ...

with a Hasidic viewpoint. During this period in his young years, he began his ascent into asceticism, only seeing a few of his close friends, including the Schneur and his schoolmate Menachem Nachum Twersky, and HaMalach became the local Maggid. He would lock himself in a room with

Tefillin Tefillin (Modern Hebrew language, Israeli Hebrew: / ; Ashkenazim, Ashkenazic pronunciation: ; Modern Israeli Hebrew, Modern Hebrew pronunciation: ), or phylacteries, are a set of small black leather boxes with leather straps containing scrolls o ...

and

Tallit A tallit, taleth, or tallis is a fringed garment worn as a prayer shawl by religious Jews. The tallit has special twined and knotted fringe (trim), fringes known as ''tzitzit'' attached to its four corners. The cloth part is known as the ''beged ...

and only eat a little bit of food a day. Another example of Avraham's asceticism came from when Rabbi Yitzhak of Radvil came to visit him on

Tisha B'av Tisha B'Av ( ; , ) is an annual fast day in Judaism. A commemoration of a number of disasters in Jewish history, primarily the destruction of both Solomon's Temple by the Neo-Babylonian Empire and the Second Temple by the Roman Empire in Jerusal ...

, only to see him in meditation in mourning the destruction of the two temples, crying. He came back to the synagogue the next day to see him still on the floor, surrounded in a "puddle of his tears". Although hesitant to marry because of the physicality of marriage, his father convinced him to marry for the sanctity of its

mitzvah In its primary meaning, the Hebrew language, Hebrew word (; , ''mīṣvā'' , plural ''mīṣvōt'' ; "commandment") refers to a commandment Divine law, from God to be performed as a religious duty. Jewish law () in large part consists of disc ...

, and he married Tveria Kalisk, and they had two sons together. Israel Chaim of Ludmir and

Sholom Shachne of Prohobisht Rabbi Sholom Shachne of Prohobisht (), also known as Rabbi Sholom the Great () (1769 – 1802) was a Ukrainian rabbi and father of Rabbi Yisroel Friedman of Ruzhin. Biography Sholom was born in Velyki Mezhyrichi to Rabbi Avraham HaMalach, so ...

. Sholom's son, Yisrael, would go on to found the Ruzhin Hassidic dynasty, and would be the ancestor of 6 others. HaMalach never took over his father's position as the Maggid of Mezeritch, and settled in Fastov, where he remained an ascetic recluse until his death on 26 September 1776 (12 Tishrei 5537).

Works

HaMalach is the author of ''Ḥesed le-Abraham'' (not to be confused with the work of Abraham Azulai of the same name), mainly structured like a Torah commentary, but also discusses the

Mishnah The Mishnah or the Mishna (; , from the verb ''šānā'', "to study and review", also "secondary") is the first written collection of the Jewish oral traditions that are known as the Oral Torah. Having been collected in the 3rd century CE, it is ...

, the Talmud, and the Jewish holidays. The book also contains many personal sermons of the author, as well as a critique on the degeneration of the study of Kabbalah within Hasidism. It was first printed in

Czernowitz Chernivtsi (, ; , ;, , see also other names) is a city in southwestern Ukraine on the upper course of the Prut River. Formerly the capital of the historic region of Bukovina, which is now divided between Romania and Ukraine, Chernivtsi serv ...

in 1850.

References

{{Authority control, qid=Q2874500 Jewish Ukrainian history Jewish ascetics 1739 births 1776 deaths Jewish mysticism Rebbes of Ruzhin 18th-century rabbis from the Russian Empire People from Rivne Oblast