מרדכי יוסף ליינר

Rav Mordechai Yosef Leiner of Izbica (5560/1800–7 Tevet 5614/1854), known by his sefer as the Mei HaShiloach and among chassidim as the Ishbitzer, was the founder of the Izhbitza-Radzyn dynasty. He was born in Tomashov to Rav Yaakov, a talmid of the Chozeh of Lublin, who was niftar when the child was two; the family traced its line to Rashi. He became a talmid of Rav Simcha Bunim of Peshischa, and after that Rebbe’s passing in 5587/1827 he joined the chassidim who accepted the leadership of Rav Menachem Mendel of Kotzk, whom he had known from childhood in Tomashov. In Kotzk he stood at the Rebbe’s right hand, charged with guiding the chassidim who came for their parnassa and their avodat Hashem, and around him gathered talmidim of his own, first among them Rav Yehuda Leib (Leibel) Eiger, grandson of Rav Akiva Eiger.

On Simchat Torah 5600/1839 came the break with Kotzk. The accounts of what passed at the hakafot that night differ, but Rav Mordechai Yosef left with many chassidim and set up his court, first in Tomashov and then in Izbica near Lublin; the machloket between the chassidim of Kotzk and Izbica burned for years afterward. He led for thirteen years and was niftar on 7 Tevet 5614/1854; his place was filled by his son Rav Yaakov, author of the Beit Yaakov, and by his talmid Rav Leibel Eiger.

His grandson Rav Gershon Henoch Leiner of Radzyn gathered his notes and printed the Mei HaShiloach in 5620/1860, about six years after his passing — the name taken from Rav Simcha Bunim’s words about his talmid, that his torah is like the waters of the Shiloach, moving slowly but digging deep, and a remez besides, for the roshei teivot of Mordechai Yosef spell Mei. The sefer, on the parshiyot of the Torah and the moadim, teaches that all is in the hands of Shamayim and that hashgacha reaches into everything; the grandson himself wrote in his hakdama that in several places the words would be hard for those not accustomed to them, and the sefer stirred sharp opposition in its day. Among its known torot: the warning to the kohanim in Vayikra, lenefesh lo yitama, is read as a warning against tumah of the soul — the bitterness and despair that follow suffering — for one who would serve Hashem must not give himself over to darkness. Among his talmidim was Rav Tzadok HaKohen of Lublin, who wrote of his rebbi with awe. He rests in an ohel in the beit hachaim of Izbica.