Simcha Bunim of Peshischa

Simcha Bunem Przysucha (* 1765, † 1827 in Przysucha / Poland ) was a Hasidic tzaddik in Poland.

Life and work

His father, Rav Zvi, was an itinerant preacher ( maggid ) in Poland and Western Europe. In his youth, studied in yeshivot in Simcha Bunem Mattersdorf and Mikulov. After his return to Poland he undertook as a clerk in a wood processing company travel to Leipzig, later concluded a study of pharmacology in Gdansk from, opened in Przysucha a pharmacy and became wealthy. At the same time he sat in Lublin continued his studies at the Hasidic Seer of Lublin and was a friend and favorite pupil of Yaakov Yitzchak Przysucha, whom he succeeded as a tzaddik.

Simcha Bunem was not a man of miracles, but based his interpretation of Hasidism to the study of Torah. Scholars young men gathered around him, many of whom left for a certain period of their families to lead a Hasidic life in Przysucha or Pschys'cha, as the place was called in Yiddish. His pupils were studying the Talmud and scholarly works, especially the writings of Judah Loew, the " Maharal " of Prague. Simcha Bunem shared the view of his teacher, after which it arriving in the execution of bids on the inner attitude, and moved in particular the early days of the ritual prayers. His followers began the prayer until after they had reached by previous meditation the required state of mind, and opposed certain externals of the Hasidic lifestyle. Simcha Bunem participated actively in the political life of Polish Jewry; He was elected as a Jewish representative of the province of Sandomierz and was a member of the Government Commission ( " Komitet " ) on Jewish affairs.

As a core message of Hasidism Przysucha calls the conscious honesty with yourself Simcha Bunem said, the Hasid should the commandment " You shall not deceive one another " refer ( Lev 25,17 EU) also on themselves. One of traditional saying of him is " God's works are a mystery, and the reason is easy, therefore, reason is greater than art. " Towards the end of his life he became blind, but continued his studies and his teaching. As his successor he appointed his son Abraham Moses, but in fact the group's leadership of Menachem Mendel was acquired by Kotzk. His students included Yitzchak Meir Alter, the founder of the Chassidic movement in Góra Kalwaria ger, Mordechai Josef Izbica Lubelska and Chanoch of Aleksandrów. The statements of Simcha Bunem were collected by his students and published in 1859 in Kol Simcha.