ism, known as the "Mezhiricher Maggid." [1] Rabbi
Israel settled in Ruzhin, a townlet in the government of Kiev, about
1815, and rapidly gained fame as a saint and miracle-worker. His
magnificent "court" at Ruzhin was always crowded with throngs of
Hasidim. Their onrush was checked by special "gentlemen in waiting," the
so-called _gabba'im,_ who were very fastidious in admitting the people
into the presence of the Tzaddik--dependent upon the size of the
proffered gifts. Israel drove out in a gorgeous carriage, surrounded by
a guard of honor. The gubernatorial administration of Kiev, presided
over by the ferocious Governor-General Bibikov, received intimations to
the effect "that the Tzaddik of Ruzhin wielded almost the power of a
Tzar" among his adherents, who did not stir with out his advice. The
police began to watch the Tzaddik, and at length found an occasion for a
"frame-up."

[Footnote 1: On Rabbi Baer see Vol. I, p. 229 et seq.]

When, in 1838, the Kahal of Ushitza, in the government of Podolia, was
implicated in the murder of an informer, [1] Rabbi Israel of Ruzhin was
arrested on the charge of abetting the murder. The hasidic "Tzar"
languished in prison for twenty-two months. He was finally set free and
placed under police surveillance. But he soon escaped to Austria, and
settled in 1841 in the Bukovina, in the townlet of Sadagora, near
Chernovitz, where he established his new "court." Many Hasidim in Russia
now made their pilgrimage abroad to their beloved Tzaddik; in addition,
new partisans were won among the hasidic masses of Galicia and the
Bukovina. Rabbi Israel died in 1850, but the "Sadagora dynasty" branched
out rapidly, and proved a serious handicap to modern progress during the
stormy epoch of emancipation which followed in Austria soon afterwards.

[Footnote 1: See above, p. 84 et seq.]

Another hot-bed of the Tzaddik cult was Podolia, the cradle of Hasidism.
In the old residence of Besht, [1] in Medzhibozh, the sceptre was held
by Rabbi Joshua Heshel Apter, who succeeded Besht's grandson, Rabbi
Borukh of Tulchyn. [2] For a number of years, between 1810 and 1830, the
aged Joshua Heshel was revered as the nestor of Tzaddikism, the haughty
Israel of Ruzhin being the only one who refused to acknowledge his
supremacy. Heshel's successor was Rabbi Moyshe Savranski, who
established a regular hasidic "court," after the pattern of Chernobyl
and Ruzhin.

[Footnote 1: See Vol. I, p. 222 et seq.]

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