Grand Rabbi Shraga Feivish Hager, also known as the Kosover Rebbe, is the ''
rebbe
A Rebbe ( yi, רבי, translit=rebe) or Admor ( he, אדמו״ר) is the spiritual leader in the Hasidic movement, and the personalities of its dynasties.Heilman, Samuel"The Rebbe and the Resurgence of Orthodox Judaism."''Religion and Spiritua ...
'' of the
Kosov Hasidic dynasty, a ''
dayan'' ("rabbinic judge"), and noted orator. He is known as a creative and insightful thinker, whose original teachings are nevertheless rooted in Hasidic mystical tradition. He is also a powerful prayer-leader, and has attracted a large following among younger Hasidim.
Rabbinic career
Hager is the ''dayan'' of the
Vizhnitz
Vizhnitz is the name of a Hasidic dynasty founded by Rabbi Menachem Mendel Hager. Vizhnitz (ויז׳ניץ or וויזשניץ) is the Yiddish name of Vyzhnytsia, a town in present-day Ukraine (then, a village in Austrian Bukovina).
Followers o ...
community in Borough Park as well as ''
posek
In Jewish law, a ''Posek'' ( he, פוסק , pl. ''poskim'', ) is a legal scholar who determines the position of ''halakha'', the Jewish religious laws derived from the written and Oral Torah in cases of Jewish law where previous authorities a ...
'' for ''
Chesed shel Emes
Chesed Shel Emes ( he, חסד של אמת, ; meaning "Charity of Truth" or "True Loving Kindness") is a Jewish voluntary organisation that is found in various forms around the world.
Israel
In Israel, the primary Chesed Shel Emes is known as Z ...
''.
Hager is well known for his role regarding contemporary ''
Halacha
''Halakha'' (; he, הֲלָכָה, ), also transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Jewish religious laws which is derived from the written and Oral Torah. Halakha is based on biblical comman ...
'' and is not afraid to be actively involved on taboo issues among ''
Haredim'', and more specifically, on controversies where the old traditional Jewish lifestyle clashes with the modern world. He is on the board of the
internet filtering service provider
J net and has been involved in a controversy concerning ''
Kapparos''.
Personal life
Rabbi Hager is an alumnus of the Chachmei Lublin,
Ponevezh, and
Lakewood yeshivos
A yeshiva (; he, ישיבה, , sitting; pl. , or ) is a traditional Jewish educational institution focused on the study of Rabbinic literature, primarily the Talmud and halacha (Jewish law), while Torah and Jewish philosophy are st ...
. He currently resides in
Borough Park, Brooklyn
Borough Park (also spelled Boro Park) is a neighborhood in the southwestern part of the borough of Brooklyn, in New York City. The neighborhood is bordered by Bensonhurst to the south, Dyker Heights to the southwest, Sunset Park to the west, ...
, New York.
Family
Rabbi Hager is the successor and eldest son of Holocaust-survivor Rabbi Avrohom Yehoshua Heshel Hager, Kosover-
Zalishchiker Rebbe of Borough Park (Died 1999), who was the son of Rabbi Shraga Feivish Hager (1870–1937), Zalishchiker Rebbe; son of Rabbi
Boruch Hager (1845–1892) of
Vizhnitz
Vizhnitz is the name of a Hasidic dynasty founded by Rabbi Menachem Mendel Hager. Vizhnitz (ויז׳ניץ or וויזשניץ) is the Yiddish name of Vyzhnytsia, a town in present-day Ukraine (then, a village in Austrian Bukovina).
Followers o ...
. The Zalishchiker Rebbe was a son-in-law of Rabbi
Moshe Hager (1860–1925), Kosover Rebbe and author of ''Leket Oni''.
Rabbi Hager is a son-in-law of Rabbi
Chaim Wosner, Rav of Zichron Meir in Bnei Brak (son of Rabbi
Shmuel Wosner, preeminent posek).
Rabbi Hager's younger brother was crowned as Zalishchiker Rebbe.
The brothers jointly republished the ''Leket Oni'' in 1996.
References
External links
Kosover Rebbe: Do Not Go To Palm Readers, or Fortunetellers(''
Yeshiva World News
''Yeshiva World News'' (YWN) is an Orthodox Jewish online news publication. It also has multiple services catering to Jews all over the world.
History
Yeshiva World News started in 2003 as a news aggregation blog by its founder Yehudah Eckstein. ...
'')
9th Grade of Wiznitz school of Williamsburg in the study of the Kosover Rebbe(
Google Books
Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google Inc. that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical ...
)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hager, Shraga
American Hasidic rabbis
Hasidic rebbes
Jews and Judaism in Brooklyn
Living people
Vizhnitz (Hasidic dynasty)
Rabbis from New York (state)
People from Borough Park, Brooklyn
Year of birth missing (living people)