Ois Rebbe! Der ershter un letzter mofes fun R. Berenyu [”No more Rebbe! The First and Last Miracle of R. Berenyu.”]

(CHASSIDISM).

Odessa

1869

Yiddish text.

Bibliographically unrecorded.

Supposedly written by a Rizhiner chassid, this extremely rare pamphlet is really a parody poking fun at the Chassidic movement in general and the controversy between the two Galician Chassidic dynasties of Sanz and Sadigora in particular. It focuses primarily on the tragic tale of R. Dov Baer Friedman of Liova (1817-76), or Reb Berenyu, as he was endearingly referred to. Shortly after his marriage to the daughter of R. Mordechai of Chernobyl, this son of R. Israel Friedman, founder of the famed Rizhiner dynasty, began to entertain doubts as to the validity of the Chassidic way of life and eventually came under the sway of the Haskallah. This pamphlet purports that the Rebbe walked away from honor and wealth in order to embrace intellectual honesty. In later years he undergoes a remarkable about-face and lives out his remaining years in pitiful solitude behind the walls of the palatial court of Sadigora. See Y. Raphael, Aresheth Vol. VI, pp. 211-21; D. Assaf, Hezitz VeNifga (2012)