View source for Yechiel Michel of Zlotshov

{{Short description|Hasidic rabbi (1725/1726–1781)}}
{{Infobox Rabbi
| name = Yechiel Michel
| honorific-suffix = of Zloczow
| honorific-prefix = Rabbi
| yahrtzeit = 25 [[Elul]]
| synagogue = In [[Zolochiv, Lviv Oblast|Zloczow]]
| birth_date = 1725/1726
| birth_place = [[Brody]], [[Galicia (Eastern Europe)|Galicia]]
| death_date = 15 September 1781
| father = {{Ill|Yitzhak of Drohobych|he|יצחק מדרוהוביץ'}}
| buried = Ohel of the Righteous, Yampil, Poland-Lithuania
| death_place = [[Yampil, Khmelnytskyi Oblast|Yampil]], [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]]
| dynasty = [[Zlotshov (Hasidic dynasty)|Zlotshov]]
}}
'''Rabbi Yechiel Michel of Zloczow''' ({{Langx|he|יחיאל מיכל מזלוטשוב}}) (1725/1726 – 15 September 1781), known as '''The Maggid of Zloczow''', was one of the disciples of the [[Baal Shem Tov]] and the [[Maggid of Mezeritch]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=יחיאל מיכל בן יצחק (1726-1786), המגיד, מזלוצ'וב {{!}} הספרייה הלאומית |url=https://www.nli.org.il/he/a-topic/987007383166805171 |access-date=2023-08-13 |website=www.nli.org.il |language=he}}</ref>
== Biography ==
Yechiel was born in [[Brody]] (modern-day [[Ukraine]]) in 1726.<ref>According to other traditions, he was born in 1730. See: {{Cite book |last=Alfasi |first=Yitzhak |title=Hasidim |publisher=Sefrit Ma'ariv Publishing |year=1977 |edition=2nd |pages=243 |language=he}}</ref> His father, Rabbi {{Ill|Yitzhak of Drohobych|he|יצחק מדרוהוביץ'}}, initially opposed the teachings of the Baal Shem Tov, but later became a fan of his and sent Yechiel to study with him. On his father's side, he was attributed to a large family of rabbis and [[Tzadik|tzaddikim]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=אנציקלופדיה יהודית דעת - יחיאל מיכל מזלוטשוב ; |url=https://www.daat.ac.il/encyclopedia/value.asp?id1=87 |access-date=2023-08-13 |website=www.daat.ac.il |language=he}}</ref> His grandfather was rabbi Yosef Safravidliwer, rabbi of {{Ill|Pistyn|de}}. His great-grandfather was Rabbi Moshe of Swierz. He was the brother of Rabbi Yosef Drobitzer, Chief Judge of [[Medzhybizh]]. He married Sarah Rakhil.
In the final years of his life, Yechiel gained wealth and said that it expanded his mind to serve God. He served as Maggid in [[Zloczow]] until his death on the 25th of Elul, and was buried in [[Yampil]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-05-21 |title=רבי יחיאל מיכל מזלאטשוב – יאמפול {{!}} איחוד הצלה אוקראינה |url=http://www.hatzolahukraine.org/קברי-צדיקים/4320/ |access-date=2023-08-13 |website=הצלה אוקראינה |language=he-IL}}</ref>
Yechiel did not write any books, but his progeny and pupils often quoted his sayings in their works.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv1595mrh |title=Hasidism: Writings on Devotion, Community, and Life in the Modern World |date=2020 |publisher=Brandeis University Press |isbn=978-1-68458-016-3 |chapter=10 Beyond the Maggid’s Circle|doi=10.2307/j.ctv1595mrh |jstor=j.ctv1595mrh }}</ref> Years later, Rabbi {{Ill|Nathan Neta Donner|he|נתן נטע דונר}} published a collection of his sayings called "Many Waters" (מים רבים).<ref>{{Cite web |title=מים רבים -- יחיאל מיכל בן יצחק, המגיד, מזלוצ'וב, 1726-1786 |url=https://hebrewbooks.org/3711 |access-date=2023-08-13 |website=hebrewbooks.org}}</ref> Among his disciples were:
* Rabbi {{Ill|Issachar Ber of Zloczow|he|ישכר בער מזלוטשוב}}
* Rabbi [[Hayyim Tyrer]]<ref name=":0" />
* Rabbi Avraham Mordechai of [[Pińczów|Pinczow]]
* Rabbi [[Meshullam Feivush Heller]]
* Rabbi [[David Solomon Eibenschutz]]
* Rabbi {{Ill|Mordechai Menschiz|he|מרדכי מנשכיז}}
=== Composing ===
Rabbi Yechiel composed many melodies during his time as Rabbi. His most famous song was "Awakening Many Mercies" (התעוררות רחמים רבים). Hasidic tradition states that at the time of his death, the Baal Shem Tov asked his disciples to sing the melody, and at the end promised that every person who joined in the song would feel a feeling of [[Repentance in Judaism|repentance]] at any time and that he would join in singing in his soul and arouse a great mercy on him before God.
Motifs from the melody were included in [[Ernest Bloch|Ernest Bloch's]] second movement of ''[[List of compositions by Ernest Bloch|Mélodie]]''. In 2013, a CD titled "Many Mercies" (רחמים רבים) was released, with ten melodies on the track being attributed by tradition to Yechiel.
== Family ==
Yechiel and his wife Sarah Rakhil had one daughter and five sons, of whom the community used to say: "Five cedars, good plantings which he planted and blossomed all over the world, which are said to be paired to the five books of the Torah."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Salanim |first=Yisrael Ze'ev |title=מאמר מרדכי: עמוד קה |year=2005 |location=Jerusalem |pages=15 |language=he}}</ref>
* Rabbi {{Ill|Yosef of Yampol|he|יוסף יונגרלייב}}, progenitor of the {{Ill|Yampol (Hasidic dynasty)|lt=Yampol dynasty|he|שושלת יאמפולה}}
* Rabbi {{Ill|Yitzhak of Radvil|he|יצחק יונגרלייב}}, progenitor of the {{Ill|Radvil (Hasidic dynasty)|lt=Radville dynasty|he|יצחק יונגרלייב}}
* Rabbi [[Zev Wolf of Zbaraz]], rabbi in the town of [[Zbarazh]]
* Rabbi {{Ill|Moshe of Zvhil|he|משה גולדמן (זווהיל)}}, founder of the [[Zvhil (Hasidic dynasty)|Zvhil dynasty]]
* Rabbi [[Mordechai of Kremnitz]], rabbi in the town of [[Kremenets]]
* Rebbetzin Miriam, who married [[David of Stepin]] in a second marriage
His father was Rabbi {{Ill|Yitzhak of Drohobych|he|יצחק מדרוהוביץ'}}, a disciple of the Besht. Yitzhak's father was Rabbi Yosef of Pistyn, nicknamed "Rabbi Yosef Ish Emet". Yitzhak's mother was Yanta, nicknamed "Yanta the Prophet". Yosef's father was Rabbi Moshe of {{Ill|Swierz|pl|Świerżeń Nowy}}.
According to family tradition, Yechiel was the scion of a privileged family from [[Principality of Galicia|Galicia]] that lived and worked in the town of [[Brody]] and its [[Shtetl|shtetls]]. The beginning of the dynasty is attributed to Rabbi [[Yitzchak Hayut]] (1538 – 1610), whose family supposedly descends from [[Rashi]] and [[King David]]. The veracity of these claims is not currently verified.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Altshuler |first=Dr. Mor |date=2017-07-31 |title=ד"ר מור אלטשולר - פרק שני |url=http://www.jewish-studies.info/4.htm#_edn26 |url-status=deviated |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170731155218/http://www.jewish-studies.info/4.htm#_edn26 |archive-date=2017-07-31 |access-date=2023-08-13 |website=jewish-studies.info}}</ref>
== References ==
<references />{{Authority control|qid=Q1686098}}
[[Category:Hasidic rabbis in Europe]]
[[Category:Hasidic Judaism in Ukraine]]
[[Category:1781 deaths]]
[[Category:Jewish composers]]
[[Category:People from Brody]]
[[Category:18th-century Polish–Lithuanian rabbis]]