Hasidim were, comparatively
speaking, "men of the world," and were ready here and there to make
concessions to the demands of the age. Quite different were the Tzaddiks
of the South-west. They were horrified by the mere thought of such
concessions. They were surrounded by immense throngs of Hasidim,
unenlightened, ecstatic, worshipping saints during their lifetime.

The most honored among these hasidic dynasties was that of Chernobyl.
[1] It was founded in the Ukraina toward the end of the eighteenth
century by an itinerant preacher, or Maggid, called Nahum. [2] His son
Mordecai, known under the endearing name "Rabbi Motele" (died in 1837),
attracted to Chernobyl enormous numbers of pilgrims who brought with
them ransom money, or _pidyons_. [3] Mordecai's "Empire" fell asunder
after his death. His eight sons divided among themselves the whole
territory of the Kiev and Volhynia province.

[Footnote 1: A townlet in the government of Kiev.]

[Footnote 2: See Vol. I, p. 382.]

[Footnote 3: The term is used in the Bible to denote a sum of money
which "redeems" or "ransoms" a man from death, as in the case of a
person guilty of manslaughter (Ex. 22. 30) or that of the first-born son
(Ex. 13. 13; 34. 20). The Hasidim designate by this term the
contributions made to the Tzaddik, in the belief that such contributions
have the power of averting from the contributor impending death or
misfortune.]

Aside from the original center in Chernobyl, seats of Tzaddiks were
established in the townlets of Korostyshev, Cherkassy, Makarov, Turisk,
Talno, Skvir and Rakhmistrovka. This resulted in a disgraceful rivalry
among the brothers, and still more so among their hasidic adherents.
Every Hasid was convinced that reverence was due only to his own
"Rebbe," [1] and he brushed aside the claims of the other Tzaddiks.
Whenever the adherents of the various Tzaddiks met, they invariably
engaged in passionate "party" quarrels, which on occasions, especially
after the customary hasidic drinking bouts, ended in physical violence.

[Footnote 1: Popular pronunciation of the word "rabbi," A hasidic
Tzaddik is designated as "Rebbe," in distinction from the rabbi proper,
or the _Rav_ (in Russia generally pronounced _Rov_), who discharges the
rabbinical functions within the community.]

The whole Chernobyl dynasty found a dangerous rival in the person of the
Tzaddik Israel Ruzhiner (of Ruzhin), the great-grandson of Rabbi Baer,
the apostle of Hasid