Menachem Nochum Twersky (1730 - 1787), also known as the Me'or Einayim (), was a Ukrainian

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 ...

, and the founder of the Chernobyl Hasidic dynasty. He was a disciple of 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 Maggid of Mezritch, and published one of the first works of Hasidic thought. He is considered one of the pioneers of the Hasidic movement.

Biography

Twersky was born in ,

Volhynia Volhynia or Volynia ( ; see #Names and etymology, below) is a historic region in Central and Eastern Europe, between southeastern Poland, southwestern Belarus, and northwestern Ukraine. The borders of the region are not clearly defined, but in ...

, and orphaned as a child. He was raised by his uncle Rabbi Nochum, who sent him to be educated in one of the highly acclaimed yeshivot in

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

. After marrying, he became a teacher, while continuing his intensive studies of

Torah The Torah ( , "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. The Torah is also known as the Pentateuch () ...

. With the advent of

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

, Twersky became a disciple of the

, the founder of Hasidism. After the Baal Shem Tov's death, Twersky accepted the Maggid of Mezritch as his mentor. His book ''Me'or Einayim'' (Light of the Eyes) was published after his death and contains a collection of his homilies concerning the weekly Torah portions and selections of the

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 Haskalah#Effects, modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cen ...

. The book gained widespread acceptance as one of the major works of Hasidic thought. He died in Chernobyl,

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, also referred to as Poland–Lithuania or the First Polish Republic (), was a federation, federative real union between the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania ...

in 1787.

Legacy

He was succeeded as the Maggid of Chernobyl by his son Rabbi Mordechai Twerski. The surname would become known as Twersky in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. Seven of Mordechai's eight sons became rebbes, including those of Skver, Rachmastrivka, Trisk, and

Talna The Talna is a left tributary of the river Tur in Romania. It discharges into the Tur in Gherța Mică. Its length is and its basin size is . The upper reach of the river, upstream of the junction with the Talna Mică, is sometimes considered t ...

. Twersky's daughter, Malka, married Rabbi Avraham of Korostyshiv. Their daughter, Chava, wife of Rabbi Sholom Shachne of Prohobisht, was the mother of Rabbi Yisroel Friedman of Ruzhin.

''Me'or Einayim''

Twersky's homilies were later collected in the books ''Me'or Einayim'' and ''Yesamach Lev'' (); They are often published together. They have gained widespread acceptance as major works and foundations of Hasidic ideology. ''Me'or Einayim'' comprises Hasidic insights on the

weekly Torah portion The weekly Torah portion refers to a lectionary custom in Judaism in which a portion of the Torah (or Pentateuch) is read during Jewish prayer services on Monday, Thursday, and Saturday. The full name, ''Parashat HaShavua'' (), is popularly abbre ...

and

Jewish holidays Jewish holidays, also known as Jewish festivals or ''Yamim Tovim'' (, or singular , in transliterated Hebrew []), are holidays observed by Jews throughout the Hebrew calendar.This article focuses on practices of mainstream Rabbinic Judaism. ...

, influenced by Kabbalah; it was edited by his student Eliyah.Title page
/ref> ''Yesamach Lev'' collects Rabbi Twersky's insights on Talmudic-

Aggadah Aggadah (, or ; ; 'tales', 'legend', 'lore') is the non-legalistic exegesis which appears in the classical rabbinic literature of Judaism, particularly the Talmud and Midrash. In general, Aggadah is a compendium of rabbinic texts that incorporat ...

References

External links

History of Jewish Community in Chernobyl
{{DEFAULTSORT:Twersky, Menachem Nachum 1730 births 1797 deaths People from Zhytomyr Oblast Jewish scholars People from Volhynian Voivodeship (1569–1795) Rebbes of Chernobyl Lithuanian Hasidic rabbis Ukrainian Hasidic rabbis Hasidic rabbis in Europe Students of Dov Ber of Mezeritch