Vizhnitz וויזשניץ

The Tzemach Tzaddik

Rabbi Menachem Mendel Hager was born on May 17, 1830, in Kosov, the son of Rabbi Chaim of Kosov and a son-in-law of Rabbi Yisroel of Ruzhin ^[1]. At 24 he became Rebbe, and soon afterward he moved to Vizhnitz, a small town near Kosov ^[1]. He was known for his tzedakah, his fervent prayer and his love of Eretz Yisroel; his Torah teachings were published under the title “Tzemach Tzaddik.” He passed away on October 18, 1884, and was buried in Vizhnitz ^[1].

The Following Generations

• Rabbi Baruch Hager (1845–1892) — his son, who led for only eight years. His Torah teachings are collected in “Imrei Baruch.” Eight of his sons became Rebbes in various towns, among them Ottynia, Suceava and Horodenka ^[1].
• Rabbi Yisroel Hager (1860–1936) — his eldest son, Rebbe in Vizhnitz from 1893. He founded Talmud Torahs and a yeshiva. During the First World War he was forced to flee to Grosswardein (Oradea), where he remained until his passing. In 1949 he was reinterred in Bnei Brak ^[1].

Rebuilding in Bnei Brak

After the Holocaust, Rabbi Chaim Meir Hager, a son of Rabbi Yisroel, settled in Bnei Brak and built a community there. Chassidim from prewar Europe gathered around him, and an entire network of educational and communal institutions was established ^[1]. He was also a spiritual leader of Agudath Israel ^[1].

His two sons carried on the leadership: Rabbi Moshe Yehoshua Hager was the Vizhnitzer Rebbe in Bnei Brak until his passing on March 13, 2012, and Rabbi Mordechai Hager (1922–2018) was the Vizhnitzer Rebbe in Monsey ^[1]. Some 100,000 people attended Rabbi Mordechai’s funeral in 2018, and he was buried in the Vizhnitz cemetery in Monsey ^[1].

Vizhnitz Today

The main Vizhnitz court in Eretz Yisroel is in Shikun Vizhnitz in Bnei Brak, under Rabbi Yisroel Hager; according to the Hebrew Wikipedia it numbered about 5,000 families in 2016. A second court, Merkaz Chassidei Vizhnitz, under his younger brother Rabbi Menachem Mendel Hager, numbered about 660 families at the time ^[2].

Other courts of the same lineage: Vizhnitz-Monsey (about 3,500 families), Seret-Vizhnitz in Haifa (about 1,300), Zhikov-Vizhnitz in Beit Shemesh, and Kosov in Borough Park ^[2]. Rabbi Mordechai’s sons lead Chassidim in Monsey, Kiamesha Lake, Williamsburg and Borough Park, as well as in Jerusalem, London, Montreal and Beit Shemesh ^[1].

Family Ties

Rabbi Moshe Yehoshua Hager’s daughters married the Skverer Rebbe, Rabbi David Twersky; the Belzer Rebbe, Rabbi Yissachar Dov Rokeach; and the Satmar Rebbe, Rabbi Aaron Teitelbaum — a sign of how closely Vizhnitz is bound to the other great Hasidic dynasties ^[1].