Rebbe Elimelech of Lizhensk רבי אלימלך מליז'נסק
disciple of the Maggid, author of Noam Elimelech, teacher of the Polish tzaddikim
Rabbi Elimelech and his elder brother Rabbi Zusha wandered among the communities for years before coming to the Maggid of Mezritch. After their teacher's death Elimelech settled in Lizhensk, and his house became the principal school of Hasidism in the Polish lands.
His book Noam Elimelech develops the doctrine of the tzaddik: the righteous man not only serves God himself but binds the community to Him, and therefore the community must sustain him. This teaching shaped the Hasidic court for two centuries — and it drew the sharpest objections of the Mitnagdim. Among his students were the Seer of Lublin, Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Rimanov and other founders of courts.
§Sources
Acharonim and later rabbinic literature
- “Noam Elimelech”
Documents of the period
- chasidic chronicles Galitzii
Basis: documents and evidence.