Aharon of Karlin

Aaron Ben Asher of Karlin (June 6, 1802 – June 23, 1872), known as Rabbi Aaron II of Karlin, was a famous rabbi of the Ḥasidim in northwestern Russia.

The son of Rabbi Asher of Stolin, thousands of followers used to visit him annually, about the time of the Jewish New Year. It was the custom among that sect, and he was highly esteemed by his adherents. He "reigned" in Karlin, near Pinsk, in the government of Minsk (currently in Belarus), in succession to his father and his grandfather, Aaron ben Jacob.

His son, Asher, died in Drohobycz about one year after the death of his father and was succeeded by his five-year-old son, the so-called Yenuḳa (Baby) of Stolin, against whose rabbinate (in the Ḥasidic sense) Schatzkes — or, according to others, Judah Lob Levin (called Yehallel of Kiev) — under the pseudonym "Ḥad min Ḥabraya" (One of the students), wrote a satire in "Ḥa-Shaḥar" (vi. 25-44).

Aaron is the author of Bet Aharon (Aaron's House; Brody, 1875), which is an important hassidic work, and especially for Karliner hassidim. The work includes thoughts on the weekly Torah readings and letters to his hassidic followers. It also contains the writings of his grandfather, of his father, and of his son.

Jewish Encyclopedia bibliography Walden, Shem ha-Gedolim he-Ḥadash, p. 18; Ḳinat Soferim, note 1294, Lemberg, 1892.