Gemara in Ta'anis:

All the talmidei chachamim and tzadikim sitting in a circle with Hashem in the middle.

They will point and say: "zeh H' kavinu lo"

all equidistant to center, so as long as they are authentic, looks don't matter.  Hashem loves all equally

R' Yisroel ben Eliezer

born: Okup, Poland

lived: 1698/1700--1760

parents had guest who ate a lot 

raised himself

sister married the ba'al shem tov

(r' yisroel ben r' eliezer)

1) tefillah=primary key in a yid's elevation.

2) simcha=mitzvos must be done b'simcha.

3) hislahavus=must feel enthusiasm          

4) Tzaddik= facilitator of closness to Hashe

A shift in emphasis.

It went from Torah learning to Tefillah and other things. People were worried b/c it de-emphasized Torah learning

Maggid M'mezritdch

• R' Dov Be'er
• spread and emphasized chassidus
• was initially against chassidus but became lame then went to the ba'al shem tov and was healed. 
• Created chassidus learning center in Mezritdch 
• watched house burn down with mother, said he'd write another sefer hayuchsin, and become a gadol hador. 

• main talmid of r' dov be'er
• wrote: Noam Elimelech on torah
• wrote: tzetel hakatan on avodas Hashem
• get tremendous yeshuos when daven at his kever. 

• brother of R' Elimelech of Lizhensk
• modeh ani lifanecha 
• self imposed exiles

advocate for bnei yisroel

• wagon driver
• tobacco vs. chameitz

Vilna Gaon

name

Vilna Gaon

lived

Vilna Gaon

mother

and as a child

Traina, fell off bridge as baby, then almost burned when they tried to warm her up

refused to play on see saw or wrestle on piggy back

Vilna Gaon

Gaon: ultimate in Limud Hatorah

Chossid: Ultimate in Avodas Hashem

returned torah to its previous pedestal of primacy in

 klal yisroel.

by vilna gaon

on Nach

1772

1781

1797

1818

Tanya written

1st ban

what spurred it?

what complaints? 

1772

epidemic in vilna

1) minyanim                                

2) nussach                                   

3) Hanhaga during davening           

4) Social behaviors                        

5) disregard for talmedei chachamim

1781

Toldos Yaakov Yosef of Peloi was published

1797

Vilna Gaon niftar yud tes tishrei

russian gov't got involved. 

r' shneur zalman and r' chaim volozhin tried to make peace. saw chassidus was going to stay. 

1813 

Napoleonic wars. said chassidim supported napoleon 

Uvshis meah shanin lshetita v'taftchin teri d'chochmsa l'aila u'mivo'i d'chochmsa l'tta" 

"‫ -"ובשית מאה שנין לשתיתא יתפחון תכעי דכחמתא לעילא

sixth century of 6th millenium will be another flood.

flood of knowledge

French philisoph. brotherhood, liberty and tolerance. 

was a hypocrite

used satire. 

france to england to france to germany 

new world of no persecution but set modern antisemitism into action. 

Moses Mendelssohn

name

Moshe ben menachem mendle

Moses Mendelssohn

born 

and lived

Dassau, Germany

1729--1786

R' Dovid Frankel

wrote

Rebbi of Moses Mendelssohn

korban eida

age 14

age 21

went to berlin

won writing contest

dramatist

wrote "Nathan the Wise"

stormed out, refusing to drink wine

missed audience with emperor b/c of mincha

Moses Mendelssohn

wrote

Biur

german translation of chumash

didn't get haskama

4/6 kids converted

daughter Dorthea said he would be so proud

1/3 of berlin converted

1) convert--> Henrich Heines, Karl Marx        

2) discard "irrelivencies" of Torah-->reform it 

break into three: 1) biblical 2) Rabbinical3) prophetic

="Jews of Mosaic persuasion"

siddur

no tzion or yerushalayim

berlin=yerushalayim-->yakum purkan

Meshech Chachma

is 

said

R' Meir Simcha Hakohen

"mi sheamar al berlin sh'hi yerushalayim" will cause a disaster=> predicted halocaust

Isaac Meyer Wise

Cincinnati

fist graduating class 1883  

Chasam Sofer

who

born 

lived

R' Moshe Sofer

frankfurt

1762--1839

Chasam Sofer 

rav of

protection

pressburg

1) speech 

2) dress

3) yeshiva--a) very large

b) frequents testing

c) dikduk

d) tanach

e) public speaking

R' Moshe Sofer

motto

mashal

"chadash assur min hatorah"

Malbim

who

lived

R' Meir leib ben yechiel michel

1809--1879

Malbim

fought

scare

in Romania

very nearly put to death by Romanian Gov't

offered chief rabbi in NY, refused

Malbim

wrote on