Elimelech of Lizhensk

Elimelech of Lizhensk
Elimelech of Lezajsk
Ohel (grave) of Rabbi Elimelech of Lizhensk
Full name	Elimelech Weisblum
Main work	Noam Elimelech
Born	1717 Tykocin, Kingdom of Poland
Died	March 11, 1787 Leżajsk, Kingdom of Poland
Buried	Leżajsk, Poland
Predecessor	Dov Ber of Mezeritch
Successor	Chozeh of Lublin, Yisroel of Kozhnitz
Father	Eliezer Lipman
Mother	Mirel dit Mirish
Wife 1	Shprintza
Children 1	Rabbi Elazar, Rabbi Eliezer Lipa, Reb Yaakov, Mirish, Esther - Ethel
Wife 2	Gittel

Elimelech Weisblum of Lizhensk (1717–March 11, 1787), a Rabbi and one of the great founding Rebbes of the Hasidic movement, was known after his hometown, Leżajsk (Yiddish: ליזשענסק-Lizhensk‎) near Rzeszów in Poland. He was part of the inner "Chevraya Kadisha" (Holy Society) school of the Maggid Rebbe Dov Ber of Mezeritch (second leader of the Hasidic movement), who became the decentralised, third generation leadership after the passing of Rebbe Dov Ber in 1772. Their dissemination to new areas of Eastern Europe led the movement's rapid revivalist expansion.

Rebbi Elimelech authored the classic work Noam Elimelech. It developed the Hasidic theory of the Tzaddik into the full doctrine of "Practical/Popular Tzaddikism". This shaped the social role of mystical leadership, characteristic of the "Mainstream Hasidic" path. As the founder of Hasidism in Poland-Galicia, his influence led numerous leaders and dynasties to emerging from his disciples through the early 19th century. Among them the Chozeh of Lublin, together with the Maggid of Koznitz and Menachem Mendel of Rimanov one of the three "Fathers of Polish Hasidism", furthered the spread of Tzaddikism in Poland. Because of this, Rebbi Elimelech is venerated by the "Mainstream" path in Hasidism, predominant especially in Poland, who descend from his influence.