Kranz was born at Zietil (Yiddish זשעטל Zhetl)(now Dzyatlava), (then Lithuania now Belarus) in about 1740 and died at Zamość on 18 December 1804.
Confronted with imposters there were several tests that Kranz would go through to prove he was the true Maggid, opening the Tanakh at random, and inventing parables on the spot [REF].