Menachem Mendel of Kotzk

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Menachem Mendel of Kotzk
Kotsker Rebbe
Born	1787
	Goray, Poland
Died	27 January, 1859 (22 Shvat 5619)
	Kotsk
Buried	Kotsk
Dynasty	Kotsk
Father	Leybush Morgenstern
Mother	Elka

1859]]) was a Hasidic leader. Born to a non-Hasidic family in Goray near Lublin, Poland, he became attracted to Hasidim in his youth. He was known for having acquired impressive Talmudic and Kabbalistic knowledge at a young age. He was a student of the Rebbe Reb Binem of Prshischa, and upon the latter's death attracted many of his followers. The Kotsker Rebbe is well known for his incisive and down-to-earth philosophies, and sharp-witted sayings. He appears to have had little patience for false piety or stupidity.

It is thought that he became very lonely in later life as a result of his genius. This led him to live in seclusion for the last twenty years of his life.

He is considered to be the spiritual founder upon which the Ger Dynasty in Poland is based; through the teachings of its founder Rabbi Yitzchak Meir Alter. One of his major students was Rabbi Mordechai Yosef Leiner of Izbica.

He never published any works. Legend has it that he composed a book of amazing depth and insight into the Torah, however he burned it so it would not be published. However, several collections of his sayings have been published, most notably Emes VeEmunah.

[edit] Some Sayings of the Kotzker Rebbe

"Just as it is the way of an ape to imitate humans, so too, a person, when he has become old, imitates himself, and does what was his manner previously." ("One who grows old is like an ape." Midrash, Kohelet Rabba 1:3)