Mezhbizh (Hasidic dynasty)

Mezhbizh (also spelled as Medzibuz, Mezbuz, Mez'buz, and in various other ways, transcribed from various Yiddish dialects) is the name of the town of Medzhybizh in the present Ukraine which is significant as both the source of a Hasidic dynasty that bears its name and as a symbolic name for the roots of Hasidism.

The Mezhbizh dynasty served as the earliest "trunk" of Hasidic Judaism, led by the Baal Shem Tov and his direct descendants.

The Mezhbizh dynasty is more than just a branch of Hasidic Judaism because it was the small town from where Hasidism eventually spread throughout the Jewish communities of Eastern Europe.

Geographically, the Hasidic movement originated in Mezhbizh, where the movement's founder, Yisroel ben Eliezer made his home, Beis Medrash (a synagogue and place of Torah study), held court, and is buried. He came to be known as the Baal Shem Tov ("master [of the] good name" in Hebrew) abbreviated as BESHT, a name that was given to various Jewish miracle workers in the Middle Ages.

Besides the position of the Mezhbizh dynasty as a "trunk" of Hasidic Judaism, an important branch of Hasidism led by the Baal Shem Tov's descendants and heirs evolved from there as well.

The Baal Shem Tov's grandson, Reb Boruch (known in his childhood as Reb Boruch'l, a Yiddish diminutive, and subsequently as Reb Boruch'l HaKadosh) was the first "rebbe" of the Hasidic movement to hold court in Mezhbizh in his grandfather's home and Beis Medrash, which he inherited. He was the son of R' Yechiel Mikhl Ashkenazi and Udl, only daughter of the Baal Shem Tov.

...
Wikipedia