The Appointment of His Disciples To Spread The Movement
Rabbi Dovber was intimately familiar with the different natures of his scholarly and saintly followers, and chose their future roles accordingly. To each leading disciple, Dovber appointed a future territory of influence across Eastern Europe, where they dispersed after the death of the Maggid in 1772. Under the Baal Shem Tov and then the Maggid, Hasidism had flourished in Podolia and Volynia (present day Ukraine). After 1772, under the third generation of leadership, it rapidly spread far and wide, from Galicia and Poland to White Russia (Belarus) in the north. The disciples of the Maggid took different interpretations and qualities of their Master's teachings. This, combined with the new dispersal of their locations, meant that after the Maggid, the Hasidic movement avoided appointing one unifying leader to succeed Dovber.
Read more about this topic: Dov Ber Of Mezeritch
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