המגיד ממזריטש

The Maggid of Mezritch, Rabbi Dov Ber, is the man who turned the message of the Baal Shem Tov from a spark into a movement. The Baal Shem Tov kindled the fire, but the Maggid, his successor, built around it a study house from which the great masters of Chassidut went out across all of Europe. He scarcely left his room, yet his disciples carried his teaching to every city and town.

His greatness lay in raising disciples. Around his table gathered a 'company of holy ones,' among them Rabbi Elimelech of Lizhensk, Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev, Rabbi Shneur Zalman the Baal HaTanya, and the Seer of Lublin, each of whom became a wellspring in his own right. One man who raised a whole generation of leaders changed the face of Judaism.

The Maggid taught the inner core of Chassidut: cleaving to God, 'nullification of the self,' the service of the heart. He deepened what the Baal Shem Tov had transmitted in simplicity, and turned it into a systematic teaching of inner divine service, from which all the streams of Chassidut drew.

What do we learn from him? That the greatest deed of a leader is sometimes to raise disciples who will surpass him. The Maggid of Mezritch teaches that a person who scarcely left his room can change an entire continent through those he raised, and that the continuation of a great message depends not on the charisma of the individual but on his ability to transmit it onward.