Rabbi Benjamin of Lida (Hebrew: הרב בנימין מלידא ; c. 1800 – 1862) was a 19th-century Hasidic rabbi and kabbalist who served as the first Hasidic rabbi of Lida, Belarus.

Biography edit

R. Benjamin was born around 1800 in Belarus. In his early years, he became a disciple of R. Solomon Hayyim Perlow (founder of Koidanover Hasidism) and under the instruction of R. Solomon, he brought Koidanover Hasidism to Lida, establishing a Hasidic community in 1833, which had a synagogue and yeshiva. In 1854, R. Benjamin became engrossed in a controversy with the city's Misnagdic Chief Rabbi, R. Elijah Schik, which ultimately resulted in R. Elijah leaving Lida and being replaced by R. Mordecai Meltzer. R. Benjamin was a renowned miracle maker and kabbalist, under whose leadership, the city's Hasidic community grew exponentially. R. Benjamin died in 1862.[1][2]

References edit

  1. ^ Avtsinsky, R. Levi (1894). Nahalat Avot. Avraham Tsevi Rozenḳrants. p. 10.
  2. ^ Lando, A. "Rabbis and Religious Teachers of Lida". jewishgen.org.