16 Adar · Yahrzeit
Rabbi Elazar Menachem-Mendel Biderman of Lelov
Rabbi Elazar Menachem-Mendel ben Moshe Biderman of Lelov (1827 - 1883).
Rabbi Elazar Menachem Mendel, the third Rebbe of Lelov. He led the chassidic community of Jerusalem, where he was renowned as a miracle worker and tzadik endowed with Ruach HaKodesh. He was revered by the tzadikim of his generation, both chassidim and misnagdim alike. The Tiferet Shlomo of Radomsk sent him kvitlach, and the Divrei Chaim of Tzanz once declared on the eve of Pesach that “the seder conducted by Rabbi Elazar Mendel in Jerusalem surpasses the sedarim of all the tzadikim.”
Yahrzeit - 16 Adar
Resting place - Har HaZeitim
He moved to Eretz Yisrael at the age of 24 together with his father, Rabbi Moshe Biderman. After his father passed away that same year, he became the chassidic leader of the Old Yishuv of Jerusalem.
He led the community for 42 years and was held in great esteem by all the communities.
Rabbi Elazar was the first Jerusalem Rebbe and was a Jerusalemite through and through. He was known for his lengthy daily prayers at the Western Wall. It is widely believed that he designed the first golden-colored Jerusalem kaftan, which was deliberately different from the Turkish-Sephardic kaftan (which more closely resembled Arab dress), and from that time onward, this type of kaftan became the characteristic garb of the Old Yishuv of Jerusalem (see Tiferet Beit David by his grandson R. Moshe Yair Weinstock, Jerusalem, 1968).
His son, Rebbe Avraham Betzalel Natan Notte, known as the Rebbe Alter, emigrated to Poland at the start of World War I and settled in Sosnowiec, where he held his court. In Poland he was known as the Rebbe from Eretz Yisrael.
Rebbe Elazar Menachem Mendel of Lelov prayed from the Siddur of the Arizal, “Kol Yaakov” (see photo).
On the title page of his siddur is the Rebbe's seal: “Elazar Menachem, son of R. Moshe, in the holy city of Jerusalem.”
This siddur contains commentaries, kavanot, laws, and customs, in accordance with kabbalistic teachings.
Many prominent chassidic leaders regularly prayed from this siddur, keeping it constantly on their table, including the Maggid of Kozhnitz, the Maggid R. Mordechai of Chernobyl, the Arvei Nachal, and R. Avraham of Chechnov. Some of them even wrote annotations in the margins of the siddur. R. Asher Tzvi of Ostrowiec writes in his approbation to the siddur: “I heard that the holy Baal Shem Tov saw this siddur and found it worthy.”