(CHASSIDISM)

Grand Rabbi Israel Friedman of Ruzhin (1796-1850), was one of the most important figures in the early Chassidic movement. His pedigree extended back to the famed Maggid of Mezritch, R. Dov Baer, successor to R. Israel Ba’al Shem Tov, founder of the Chassidic movement. After being falsely denounced to the Tsarist government, R. Israel was forced to flee across the border to Austrian Galicia in 1845, reestablishing his court in the town of Sadigora, where a palatial residence was erected. R. Israel conveyed his teachings through short sometimes witty statements rather than lengthy discourses. His son, R. Avraham Ya'akov succeeded his father R. Yisrael of Ruzhin after his elder brother R. Shalom Yosef died. As the oldest remaining son of the “Holy Ruzhiner” R. Avraham Ya'akov was the acknowledged leader of the dynasty. Today, the descendants of the Ruzhiner dynasty, most notably the Rebbes of Boyan, Sadigora, and Buhush (who have all relocated to Eretz Israel), continue to occupy positions of leadership in the Chassidic world. See D. Assaf, The Regal Way: The Life and Times of Rabbi Israel of Ruzhin (2002), EJ, Vol. XIV, cols. 526-532.