Rabbi A rabbi (; ) is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi—known as ''semikha''—following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of t ...

Elimelech Szapira of

Grodzhisk Grodzhisk is a Hasidic dynasty founded by Rebbe Elimelech Szapira, author of ''Imrei Elimelech''. Grodzhisk is the Yiddish name of Grodzisk Mazowiecki, a town in present-day Poland. Lineage * Rabbi Elimelech Szapira of Grodzhisk (b. 1823, d. ...

(1823–1892) was the leading

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 ...

rebbe A Rebbe () or Admor () is the spiritual leader in the Hasidic movement, and the personalities of its dynasties.Heilman, Samuel"The Rebbe and the Resurgence of Orthodox Judaism."''Religion and Spirituality (Audio)''. UCTV, 20 Oct 2011. web. ...

of his time in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

. He was a ' (follower) of the Rizhiner Rebbe. After the death of his father, the ''Sorof'' of Mogelnica, he assumed leadership of the Grodzhisk chasidim, who eventually numbered in the tens of thousands. His sons-in-law were the Kozhnitser Rebbe Yaakov Yechiel Hopsztajn and Rebbe Osher the Second of Stolin-Karlin. When he died, his surviving sons were aged two and three, the sons from his first marriage having predeceased him. Some of the chassidim waited for the sons to grow up; one eventually became the Piasetzner Rov. Other chassidim chose a grandson, Rabbi Yisroel Shapira as their next leader. A third group, including many learned rabbis, followed the scholarly Ostrovtser Rov. This led to the common epithet that when the Imrei Elimelech died, his main successors were the ''Rebbe fun der Daies'' (Rebbe of the opinions, the Ostrovtzer,) the ''Rebbe fun der Maiyes'' (Rebbe of the hundreds, a polite way of saying the wealthy Chassidim; his grandson, Rabbi Yisroel Shapira,) and the ''Rebbe fun der peiyes'' (Rebbe of the sidecurls, that is to say, the most intensely religious chassidim.) His youngest son, Yeshaya Shapira, became a rabbi but did not establish his own court, instead focusing on

religious Zionism Religious Zionism () is a religious denomination that views Zionism as a fundamental component of Orthodox Judaism. Its adherents are also referred to as ''Dati Leumi'' (), and in Israel, they are most commonly known by the plural form of the fi ...

as an early leader in

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Writings

The teachings of the Grodzhikser Rebbe are collected in ''Imrei Elimelech'' and ''Divrei Elimelech''.

References

External links

Imrei Elimelech
1823 births 1892 deaths Hasidic rebbes Polish Hasidic rabbis Kozhnitz (Hasidic dynasty) {{Hasidic-Judaism-stub