Kozhnitz (Hasidic dynasty)


Kozhnitz is the name of a Hasidic dynasty founded by the Kozhnitzer Maggid, Rebbe Yisroel Hopsztajn. Kozhnitz is the Yiddish name of Kozienice, a town in present-day Poland.

Lineage

Rebbe Yisroel Hopsztajn, the Maggid and founder of the Kozhnitz dynasty, and one of the three "patriarchs" of Polish hasidism, was a disciple of Rebbe Elimelech of Lizhensk, author of Noam Elimelech. The Rebbe Elimelech was a disciple of the Rebbe Dovber, the Maggid of Mezeritch, the primary disciple of the Baal Shem Tov, the founder of Hasidism.
The current Kozhnitzer Rebbe, Rabbi Moshe Shimshon Sternberg is one of the last Hasidic rebbes remaining in the mostly secular Tel Aviv, and is considered by many to be one of gedolei hador. Does outreach work in Tel Aviv; Bnei Brak; Jerusalem; and Upper West Side, Manhattan in New York.
Kozhnitz communities in Williamsburg, Borough Park and Sea Gate in Brooklyn also have their own rebbes, all descendants of the Maggid.

History