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Thousands of Hasidic Jews set to mark rabbi's anniversary in Poland
Mar 17, 2009, 11:45 GMT
Warsaw - Thousands of Hasidic Jews will on Tuesday pray at the grave in Poland of one of the faith's most influential rabbis, marking the 223 anniversary of his death.
Rabbi Elimelech Weisblum's grave in southeastern Poland will see Jews from across the world come to pray, dance and sing at one of the most significant places in the Hasidic faith.
The anniversary is 'classically Jewish - chaotic,' Poland's Chief Rabbi Michael Schudrich told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.
'It's very intense and it's also very individual,' Schudrich said. 'Rabbi Elimelech was one of the great Hasidic masters and it's considered a great merit to visit the grave of someone that's on such a high spiritual level at the anniversary of his death.'
Elimelech lived from 1717 to 1787, and became one of the most important figures in the Orthodox Jewish faith after dedicating his life to studying the Torah.
He came to Lezajsk in 1772 and turned it into a center for Hasidism.
The town had a big Jewish population before World War II and became again a destination for pilgrims in the 1970s.
'Generally there are two kinds of rabbis - those who inspire people, and those who wrote a great legal tracts,' Schudrich said. 'He was more on the spiritual side.'
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