Elazar Mordechai Koenig (b. 1945) is an Orthodox Jewish rabbi and the spiritual leader of the Breslov Hasidic community in Safed, Israel.
Contents |
Rabbi Elazar Mordechai was born in Jerusalem to Rabbi Gedaliah Aharon and Esther Yehudit Koenig. His father was a leading disciple of Breslov elder Rabbi Abraham Sternhartz, who immigrated to Jerusalem from Uman, Ukraine in 1936.
Rabbi Elazar Mordechai is an alumnus of the Mir Yeshiva in Jerusalem. He studied kabbalah with his father as well as with several leading Sephardic masters, including Rabbi Mordechai Sharabi.[1]
In 1967, Rabbi Gedaliah Aharon founded the Breslov community in Safed and charged his son with completing the task of building this Torah center.[2]
Today, Rabbi Elazar Mordechai heads the Safed Breslov community and its umbrella organization, Nachal Novea Mekor Chokhma Institutions. These include: Kiryat Breslov (a religious housing complex), a kollel, Yeshivas Magen Avos, the historic Trisk Synagogue in Safed's Old City, and a five-story Torah Center.
In 1997, Rabbi Elazar Mordechai founded the Breslov Center for Spirituality and Inner Growth, which organizes classes on the teachings of Rebbe Nachman of Breslov, lectures, musical events and retreats in the Greater New York area.
He also sponsors the annual Breslov Rosh Hashana gathering in Meron for Hasidim who are unable to travel to Uman.
His advice and blessings are sought by people around the world.