Breslov

Breslov (also Bratslav and Breslev) is a branch of Hasidic Judaism founded by Nachman of Breslov (1772–1810), a great-grandson of the Baal Shem Tov, founder of Hasidism. Its adherents strive to develop an intense, joyous relationship with God and receive guidance toward this goal from the teachings of Nachman. The movement has had no central, living leader for the past 200 years, as Nachman did not designate a successor. As such, Breslov adherents are sometimes referred to as the "dead Hasidim" (Yiddish: טויטע חסידים, romanized: toyte ḥasidim) since they have never had a formal Rebbe since Nachman's death. However, certain groups and communities under the Breslov banner refer to their leaders as "Rebbe". The movement weathered strong opposition from virtually all other Hasidic movements in Ukraine throughout the 19th century, yet, at the same time, experienced growth in numbers of followers from Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania, and Poland. By World War I, thousands of Breslov Hasidim lived in the region. After the Bolshevik Revolution, communist persecution forced the Breslov Hasidic movement underground in Russia. Thousands of Breslov Hasidim were imprisoned or executed during Joseph Stalin's Great Purge and later during the Nazi period, both before and after Germany's invasion of Soviet Russia in 1941. The movement was regenerated in the United Kingdom, the United States, and Israel by those who escaped the persecutions of Europe, with large numbers of Yemenite Jews and other Mizrahi Jews joining the sect.