Zychlin originated in the town of Żychlin

Zychlin

Żychlin is a town in Kutno County, Łódź Voivodeship, Poland, about 50 north of Łódź and 90 km west of Warsaw. It has 9,021 inhabitants .-History:...

 in Poland

Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

. The founder of the Żychlin Hasidic

Hasidic Judaism

Hasidic Judaism or Hasidism, from the Hebrew —Ḥasidut in Sephardi, Chasidus in Ashkenazi, meaning "piety" , is a branch of Orthodox Judaism that promotes spirituality and joy through the popularisation and internalisation of Jewish mysticism as the fundamental aspects of the Jewish faith...

 dynasty Rabbi Shmuel Abba was born to Reb Zelig on the 19th of Kislev

Kislev

Kislev Kislev Tiberian ; also Chislev is the third month of the civil year and the ninth month of the ecclesiastical year on the Hebrew calendar....

 in the city of Lovitsh.

Origins and ideology

The first Rebbe of Zychlin, Rabbi Shmuel Abba, taught that one needs to not only repent

Repentance in Judaism

Repentance in Judaism known as teshuva , is the way of atoning for sin in Judaism.According to Gates of Repentance, a standard work of Jewish ethics written by Rabbenu Yonah of Gerona, if someone commits a sin, a forbidden act, he can be forgiven for that sin if he performs teshuva, which...

 but repent through the learning of Jewish holy subjects

Torah study

Torah study is the study by Jewish people of the Torah, Hebrew Bible, Talmud, responsa, rabbinic literature and similar works, all of which are Judaism's religious texts...

. Reb Zelig was a relative of the Sabba Kadisha of Strikov, Reb Fishel, going to visit him and taking his young son Shmuel Abba with him. Rabbi Shmuel Abba was known as the Iluei ("genius") of Luvitch and many scholars praised his depth and understanding. When Rabbi Shmuel Abba was older he learned at the Peshischa yeshiva

Yeshiva

Yeshiva is a Jewish educational institution that focuses on the study of traditional religious texts, primarily the Talmud and Torah study. Study is usually done through daily shiurim and in study pairs called chavrutas...

 which was lead at that time by Rabbi Simcha Bunim of Peshischa

Simcha Bunim of Peshischa

Rabbi Simcha Bunim Bonhart of Peshischa was one of the main leaders of Hasidic Judaism in Poland. After studying Torah at yeshivas in Mattersdorf and Nikolsburg, he was introduced to the world of Hasidism by his father-in-law, and became a chasid of Rabbi Yisroel Hopsztajn , and then Rabbi...

. He considered himself one of Rabbi Simcha Bunim’s disciples.

Rabbi Shmuel Abba had a small following of Hasidim and lived at his father-in-law's house, but when he moved to Zychlin for monetary reasons he acquired a larger following. Shmuel Abba was known as a miracle worker. Shmuel Abba spent time in jail because his detractors were upset that he practiced practical Kabbalah

Kabbalah

Kabbalah/Kabala is a discipline and school of thought concerned with the esoteric aspect of Rabbinic Judaism. It was systematized in 11th-13th century Hachmei Provence and Spain, and again after the Expulsion from Spain, in 16th century Ottoman Palestine...

.

Ninety-five percent of Zychliner Hasidim perished during the Holocaust

The Holocaust

The Holocaust , also known as the Shoah , was the genocide of approximately six million European Jews and millions of others during World War II, a programme of systematic state-sponsored murder by Nazi...

, the last Rebbes dying at the hands of the Nazis

Nazism

Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...

.

Dynastic line

• Grand Rabbi Shmuel Abba Zychlinski of Zichlin (1809–1879), also known as the Alter Rebbe of Zychlin
  • Grand Rabbi Moshe Natanel Zychlinski (d. 1912), son of Rabbi Shmuel Abba
    • Grand Rabbi Seadyia Hanoch Zychlinski of Zychlin-Strikov (1885-?), son of Rabbi Moshe Natanel. Murdered by the Nazi regime.
      • Rabbi Efraim Meir Gad Zychlinski, author of Lehav Eish. Murdered by the Nazi regime.
      • Grand Rabbi Moshe Natanel Zychlinski of Zychlin-Strikov-Lodz. Murdered by the Nazi regime.
    • Grand Rabbi Menachem Yedidah Zychlinski of Zychlin (1872-1940), son of Rabbi Moshe Natanel. Murdered by the Nazi regime.
      • Grand Rabbi Shmuel Avraham Abba Zychlinski of Zychlin (d. 1942), son of Rabbi Menachem Yedidah. Murdered by the Nazi regime.