Mezritch מזריטש
The Volhynian town where the Maggid gathered disciples and turned hasidism into a movement.
After the Baal Shem Tov died in 5520 the movement might have faded — it rested on one man. Rabbi Dov Ber, the Maggid of Mezritch, continued it differently: frail and rarely travelling, he received students at home and sent them out across Eastern Europe to found courts of their own.
From Mezritch came Rabbi Elimelech of Lizhensk and his brother Zusha, Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev, Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi who founded Chabad, and Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Vitebsk, who led the hasidic aliyah to the Land of Israel in 5537. Almost every hasidic dynasty traces back to that house.
The Maggid gave hasidism its language: bittul, the divine spark in every thing, prayer as union. His teachings were recorded by his students. The conflict with Vilna began in his lifetime, with the first bans in 5532.