ote 2: See Vol. I, p. 384.]

The only Tzaddik to whom it was not given to be the founder of a dynasty
was the somewhat eccentric Rabbi Nahman of Bratzlav, [1] a great-grandson
of Besht. After his death, the Bratzlav Hasidim, who followed the lead
of his disciple Rabbi Nathan, suffered cruel persecutions at the hands
of the other hasidic factions. The "Bratzlavers" adopted the custom of
visiting once a year, during the High Holidays, the grave of their
founder in the city of Uman, in the government of Kiev, and subsequently
erected a house of prayer near his tomb. During these pilgrimages they
were often the target of the local Hasidim who reviled and often
maltreated them. The "Bratzlavers" were the Cinderella among the
Hasidim, lacking the powerful patronage of a living Tzaddik. Their
heavenly patron, Rabbi Nahman, could not hold his own against his living
rivals, the earthly Tzaddiks--all too earthly perhaps, in spite of their
saintliness.

[Footnote 1: A town in Podolia. See Vol. I, p. 382 et seq.]

The Tzaddik cult was equally diffused in the Kingdom of Poland. The
place of Rabbi Israel of Kozhenitz and Rabbi Jacob-Isaac of Lublin, who
together marshalled the hasidic forces during the time of the Varsovian
duchy, was taken by founders and representatives of new Tzaddik
dynasties. The most popular among these were the dynasty of Kotzk, [1]
established by Rabbi Mendel Kotzker (1827-1859), and that of Goora
Kalvaria, [2] or Gher, [3] founded by Rabbi Isaac Meier Alter [4] (about
1830-1866). The former reigned supreme in the provinces, the latter in
the capital of Poland, in Warsaw, which down to this day has remained
loyal to the Gher dynasty.

[Footnote 1: A town not far from Warsaw. Comp. Vol. I, p. 303, n. 1.]

[Footnote 2: In Polish, _Gora Kalwarya_, a town on the left bank of the
Vistula, not far from Warsaw.]

[Footnote 3: This form of the name is used by the Jews.]

[Footnote 4: Called popularly in Poland _Reb Itche Meier_, a name still
frequently found among the Jews of Warsaw, who to a large extent are
adherents of the "Gher dynasty."]

The Polish "Rebbes" [1] resembled by the character of their activity the
type of the Northern, or _Habad_, Tzaddiks rather than those of the
Ukraina. They did not keep luxurious "courts," did not hanker so
greedily after donations, and laid greater emphasis on talmudic
scholarship.

[Footnote 1: See p. 120, n. 1.]

Hasidism produced not only leaders but also martyrs