Menachem Mendel of Kotzk

Menachem Mendel of Kotzk
Kotzker Rebbe
Grave of Menachem Mendel of Kotzk
Term	1827–1859
Full name	Menachem Mendl Morgensztern
Born	1787 Goray, Poland
Died	27 January 1859 (22 Shvat 5619) = Kotzk
Buried	Kotzk
Dynasty	Kotzk
Predecessor	(first rebbe)
Successor	Dovid Morgensztern
Father	Leybush Morgenstern
Mother	Elka
Wife 1	Glike Nay
Children 1	Dovid Morgensztern
Wife 2	Chaya Lipszuc
Children 2	Sara Cyna Brucha Binyomin Moshe Yeruchom

Menachem Mendel Morgensztern of Kotzk, better known as the Kotzker Rebbe (1787–1859) was a Hasidic rabbi and leader.

Born to a non-Hasidic family in Goraj near Lublin, Poland, he became attracted to Hasidus in his youth. He was known for having acquired impressive Talmudic and Kabbalistic knowledge at an early age. He was a student of Reb Bunim of Peshischa, and upon the latter's death attracted many of his followers. Morgensztern was 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.

From 1839 he lived 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. He wrote many manuscripts, but he had them all burned before his death. Several collections of his sayings have been published, most notably Emes VeEmunah (Truth and Faith).

His eldest son, Rabbi David Morgensztern, succeeded him as Kotzker Rebbe (1809–1893). The third Kotzker Rebbe was Rabbi Chaim Yisrael Morgenstern (the Pilover Rebbe, 1840–1905). The fourth Kotzker Rebbe was Rabbi Yitzchak Zelig Morgenstern (the Sokolover Rebbe, 1866–1940). In 1924, the Sokolover Rebbe, Rabbi Yitzchak Zelig Morgensztern, visited Jerusalem, Safed, Hebron, Tiberias and Tel Aviv. He was accompanied on this trip by Rabbi Avraham Mordechai Alter (the Imrei Emes), Rabbi Hirsh Heynekh Lewin, and Rabbi Yitzhak-Meir Levin. Over a six-week period, they visited Jerusalem, Safed, Hebron, Tiberias and Tel Aviv. The fifth Kotzker Rebbe was Rabbi Jacob Mendel Morgenstern (the Vengrov Rebbe, 1887–1939). The sixth Kotzker Rebbe was Rabbi David Solomon Morgenstern, who emigrated to London, England and then, Chicago, Illinois where he served the Chicago community. Rabbi Shalom (Jonathan) Morgenstern, Rabbi of the Young Israel of Scarsdale, New York, is allegedly an 8th generation direct descendant of the Kotzker Rebbe. The Kotzker Rebbe's disciple Rabbi Avrohom Bornsztain, author of Avnei Nezer and first Sochatchover Rebbe, was his son-in-law (having married Sara Tzina Morgenstern, the daughter of the Kotzker Rebbe). The first Rebbe of Ger, Rabbi Yitzchak Meir Alter, known for his work as the Chidushei Harim, was a preeminent disciple of the Kotzker Rebbe.