Rabbi Menachem Mendel Hager of Kosov—the Ahavas Shalom רבי מנחם מנדל הגר מקאסוב — אהבת שלום
founder of the Kosov court—the root from which Vizhnitz and its branches grew
The son of Rabbi Yaakov Koppel Chassid, a man of the Besht’s circle: tradition says the father sang at the Sabbath table so that people came to listen. He received Chasidut at home and afterwards studied under the Galician teachers of the second generation.
Kosov. He set up his court in Kosov in the Carpathians—a small and poor townlet, and the court matched it: without style and without splendour. He taught of service out of love: fear is needed, but everything begins elsewhere. His book of teachings is named for it—Ahavas Shalom.
What grew from him. His son led Kosov on, and his grandson settled in Vizhnitz—and the Vizhnitz house, one of the largest today, comes from here. Kosov and Vizhnitz are not two courts but one root and its branch.
He died on 21 Tishrei 1825.
On the timeline
Related
Sources
Acharonim and later rabbinic literature
- Ahavas Shalom—his teachings — the book he is named by
- The Kosov-Vizhnitz tradition on the lineage — the father of the Besht’s circle; the grandson founder of Vizhnitz
Basis: documents and evidence.