Avraham Yehoshua Heschel

Chasidic leader, founder of the Apt-Zinkov-Kopishnitz dynasty, disciple of R. Elimelekh of Lizhensk and R. Yechiel Michel of Zlotchov. He served as rabbi in Kolbuszowa and later in Apt (Opatów), as a result of which he is always referred to as the Apter Rav, although he held many other rabbinic positions. As a result of communal strife, he was forced to leave his rabbinic post, and subsequently settled in Mezhbizh, the home of the Ba'al Shem Tov and the center of Chasidut, where he devoted himself completely to the study and dissemination of Chasidut. His legendary love for the Jewish people earned him the title Ohev Yisrael ("Lover of Israel"), the name of his Torah commentary.