Elazar Mordechai Koenig

Elazar Mordechai Koenig (; October 15, 1945 – December 31, 2018) was an Orthodox Jewish rabbi and the spiritual leader of the Breslov Hasidic community in Safed, Israel.

Early life Elazar Mordechai Koenig was born in Jerusalem to Rabbi Gedaliah Aharon Koenig and his wife Esther Yehudit Koenig. His father was a leading disciple of Breslov elder Rabbi Abraham Sternhartz, who immigrated to Jerusalem from Uman, Ukraine in 1936.

Koenig was an alumnus of the Mir Yeshiva in Jerusalem. He studied kabbalah with his father as well as with several leading Sephardic masters, including Rabbi Mordechai Sharabi.

Breslov leader

In 1967, his father, with the encouragement of Rabbi Sternhartz, founded the Breslov community in Safed and dedicated himself to fundraising for the expansion of this Torah center.

As of 2014, the Safed Breslov community comprised 250 families. Influence beyond Safed In 1997 Koenig founded the Breslov Center for Spirituality and Inner Growth, which organizes classes on the teachings of Rebbe Nachman of Breslov, lectures, musical events, and retreats in the Greater New York area. He also sponsored the annual Breslov Rosh Hashana gathering in Meron for Hasidim unable to travel to Uman.