Menahem Mendel of Vitebsk

(1730-1788). Ḥasidic leader. Menahem Mendel was a disciple of Dov Baer of Mezhirech and one of the founders of ḥasidism in Lithuania, where he attempted unsuccessfully to gain an audience with Elijah Ben Solomon (the Gaon of Vilna) to convince him of its merits. In 1777 he left for Erets Israel, settling ultimately in Tiberias and becoming the leader of the country's Ḥasidic community while remaining the spiritual leader of the Belorussian Ḥasidim.

Menahem Mendel perpetuated the doctrines of his mentor, the Maggid of Mezhirech, utilizing the kabbalistic concepts of emanation, tsimtsum (see Luria, Isaac and Lurianic Kabbalah), and Atsilut to explain the relationship of man and God and the possibility of communion through Devekut. To attain the desired state, Menahem Mendel urged self-abnegation, devoutness, and the cultivation of moral values. His main works, published after his death, are Peri ha-Arets, Peri ha-Ets, Ets Peri, and Likkuté Amarim.

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