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A biography of R. Yaakov Yitzchak of Peshischa: his time, his life and his Torah written by Zvi Meir HaKohen Rabinowicz. R. Yaakov Yitzchak b. Asher of Peshischa (Yid Hakadosh): 1766-1813, known in the hasidic world by the title "The Holy Jew" (Yid Hakadosh), was the leading disciple of the "Seer of Lublin," but subsequently split off to form the famous Peshischa movement of Hasidut. Rabbi Simcha Bunim of Peshischa and Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Kotsk were among his many disciples who became great Rebbes in their own right.
He was born in Przedborz, where his father R. Asher, scion of a distinguished rabbinic family, was a preacher. R. Jacob Isaac studied there under R. Aryeh Leib Harif whom he followed to Opatow (Apta) and at the yeshivah of Leszno, under R. David Tevele b. Nathan of Lissa. Though as a youth R. Jacob Isaac excelled in physical strength, he was weakened as a result of his withdrawal from worldly matters, prolonged fasts, and ecstatic supplications. At first he attempted to conceal his spiritual qualities and his charitable deeds, but when the zaddik R. Moses Leib of Sasov settled in Apta he influenced R. Jacob Isaac to join the Hasidim. He was particularly influenced by the zaddik R. David of Lelov from whom he gained an insight into the obligation of loving one's fellow Jew. R. Jacob Isaac became famous as a Torah savant and man of intense devotions. He would say: "If a sword were stuck into the body of a praying man and he felt pain, then his prayer is not authentic." He performed charitable deeds dispensing his money among the poor, although his own fortune deteriorated and he was obliged to work as a village schoolmaster (melammed).
A turning point in his life came when he met R. Jacob Isaac Horowitz "the Seer" (Ha-Hozeh) of Lublin and became his closest disciple. Because his name was the same as that of his master, and possibly for other reasons, the Hasidim called him "the Jew" (Heb. ha-Yehudi) or "the holy Jew" (ha-Yehudi ha-Kadosh). The Seer of Lublin admired his disciple and appointed him spiritual counsellor of the young scholars. In this capacity he advised his pupils to cast off pride and, above all, sentiments of one's own worth. He maintained that a zaddik always sees his friends' virtues and his own lowliness. According to R. Jacob Isaac, there are three kinds of zaddikim. One who acknowledges that he is a zaddik is the least worthy. One who recognizes the fact that he is not a zaddik of high order is more worthy. Better than both is the true zaddik who holds that he is yet to achieve perfection. He stressed the imperative of striving for self-perfection—the absence of endeavor implying deterioration—through the honest performance of the mitzvot, untarnished by any interest in honor or material gain. Indeed, R. Jacob Isaac's own integrity earned him the nickname Shibbolet Zahav ("golden ear of corn"), which he was said to resemble in that he, too, was golden to the very kernel.
Pshiskhah Hasidism
R. Jacob Isaac initiated (in the words of Uri Strelisk) "a new path in Hasidism"—the service of God through Torah study together with prayer. He thus founded a Polish version of Habad Hasidism, which assigned a greater importance to Torah study and the role of scholars, and started to campaign against the superficiality and ignorance which had developed within Hasidism. R. Jacob Isaac opposed wonder-workers and the zaddikim who occupied themselves with material matters. He pointed out that anyone who had attained a certain spiritual level could perform wonders; a more difficult task is simply to fulfill one's obligations honestly as a Jew. "The good is sufficient even if it is only a hairsbreadth, provided it be offered in truth and wholeheartedly." Because of this the Pshiskhah Hasidim were not meticulous in fixing the time of prayer according to the law as set out in the Shulhan Arukh, preferring to wait until spiritual preparation produced the requisite devout frame of mind. Pshiskhah Hasidism was thus a combination of emotional attitude with rational scholarship.
R. Jacob Isaac's new path, especially the delay in the set time of prayer, aroused the opposition of all contemporary zaddikim who were the disciples of the Seer of Lublin. A split was created between Pshiskhah Hasidim and the popular Hasidim. The disciples faithful to the Seer regarded R. Jacob Isaac as a competitor of their master and began to harass him and his disciples. The Seer himself was harsh on R. Jacob Isaac who, unwanted at Lublin, set about to lead a community of his own. This further aggravated the controversy between the master and his disciple. Eager for peace, R. Jacob Isaac requested Mendel of Rymanow to intervene but he did not succeed. During R. Jacob Isaac's last years, world happenings in the wake of the Napoleonic wars, which some of the zaddikim regarded as the war of Gog and Magog, created among Jews new expectations for redemption. Accordingly, on the Passover seder night of 1814 they sought to bring the Messiah through mystical means, but R. Jacob Isaac refused to take part in this undertaking.
In the same year, before he reached the age of fifty, he died in Przysucha. Though he was succeeded by his son Jerahmeel, most of the Hasidim accepted the leadership of his outstanding disciple, R. Simhah Bunem of Przysucha. R. Jacob Isaac's important disciples included R. Menahem Mendel of Kotsk, R. Hanokh of Aleksandrow,R. Isaac of Worky (Warka), and R. Issachar Baer of Radoshits, all of whom were hasidic leaders of influence among Polish Jews.
R. Jacob Isaac's works were published in Nifla'ot ha-Yehudi ("The Wonders of the Jew," 1909), Tiferet ha-Yehudi ("The Splendor of the Jew," 1912), and Torat ha-Yehudi ("The Teachings of the Jew," 1911).
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