maggid

maggid, any of the many itinerant Jewish preachers who flourished especially in Poland and Russia during the 17th and 18th centuries. Because rabbis at that time preached only on the Sabbaths preceding Pesaḥ (Passover) and Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement), maggidim were in great demand throughout the year to instruct, encourage, and sometimes admonish their congregation. Through their preaching, the maggidim were instrumental in spreading the 18th-century pietistic movement called Ḥasidism. Rabbi Dov Baer of Mezhirich, who succeeded Baʿal Shem Ṭov as leader of the Ḥasidic movement in the 18th century, is known as the Great Maggid.

Closely associated with the maggidim were other itinerant preachers called mokhiḥim (“reprovers,” or “rebukers”), whose self-appointed task was to admonish their listeners of severe punishments if they failed to observe the commandments. A heavenly being (or voice) that revealed secret meanings to a Jewish mystic was also called a maggid.