R. Abraham of Mezhirech, Ha-Malakh, (the Angel; 1741–1776), hasidic sage. A contemporary who watched R. Abraham on the Ninth of Av bewail the destruction of the Temple, remarked: “Then I understood that it was not in vain that he was named by all 'the Angel,' for no man born of woman could have such power.” A solitary ascetic who mainly concentrated on study of Kabbalah, R. Abraham did not emulate the tradition of popular aspects of Hasidism instituted by the Ba'al Shem Tov and by his father, considering them “too earthly.” His ideal of the zaddik was directly opposed to the usual type of such hasidic leaders, being “one who is incapable of leading his contemporaries, one whom they would not tolerate because he is immersed in learning and unable to descend 'to the lowest grade' in order to lift up his generation.” In his youth R. Abraham was a friend of R. Shneur Zalman of Lyady with whom he studied Talmud and Kabbalah in Mezhirech.

עם ההסכמות וההוספות שבדפוס הראשון.