In 1812, a schism occurred between the Seer of Lublin and his prime disciple, the Holy Jew of Przysucha, due to both personal and doctrinal disagreements. The Seer adopted a populist approach, centered on the Righteous' theurgical functions to draw the masses. He was famous for his lavish, enthusiastic conduct during prayer and worship, and extremely charismatic demeanour. He stressed that as Tzaddiq, his mission was to influence the common folk by absorbing Divine Light and satisfying their material needs, thus converting them to his cause and elating them. The Holy Jew pursued a more introspective course, maintaining that the Rebbe's duty was to serve as a spiritual mentor for a more elitist group, helping them to achieve a senseless state of contemplation, aiming to restore man to his oneness with God which Adam supposedly lost when he ate the fruit of the Lignum Scientiae. The Holy Jew and his successors did neither repudiate miracle working, nor did they eschew dramatic conduct; but they were much more restrained in general. The Przysucha School became dominant in Central Poland, while populist Hasidism resembling the Lublin ethos often prevailed in Galicia.Dynner, pp. 29–31. One extreme and renowned philosopher who emerged from the Przysucha School was Menachem Mendel of Kotzk. Adopting an elitist, hard-line attitude, he openly denounced the folky nature of other Tzaddiqim, and rejected financial support. Gathering a small group of devout scholars who sought to attain spiritual perfection, whom he often berated and mocked, he always stressed the importance of both somberness and totality, stating it was better to be fully wicked than only somewhat good.
In 1812 a schism occurred between the Seer of Lublin and his prime disciple the Holy Jew of Przysucha due to both personal and doctrinal disagreements The Seer adopted a populist approach centered on the Righteous' theurgical functions to draw the masses He was famous for his lavish enthusiastic conduct during prayer and worship and extremely charismatic demeanour He stressed that as Tzaddiq his mission was to influence the common folk by absorbing Divine Light and satisfying their material needs thus converting them to his cause and elating them The Holy Jew pursued a more introspective course maintaining that the Rebbe's duty was to serve as a spiritual mentor for a more elitist group helping them to achieve a senseless state of contemplation aiming to restore man to his oneness with God which Adam supposedly lost when he ate the fruit of the Lignum Scientiae The Holy Jew and his successors did neither repudiate miracle working nor did they eschew dramatic conduct; but they were much more restrained in general The Przysucha School became dominant in Central Poland while populist Hasidism resembling the Lublin ethos often prevailed in GaliciaDynner pp 29–31 One extreme and renowned philosopher who emerged from the Przysucha School was Menachem Mendel of Kotzk Adopting an elitist hard-line attitude he openly denounced the folky nature of other Tzaddiqim and rejected financial support Gathering a small group of devout scholars who sought to attain spiritual perfection whom he often berated and mocked he always stressed the importance of both somberness and totality stating it was better to be fully wicked than only somewhat good