Aharon HaGadol of Karlin

R. Aharon ben Yaakov of Karlin — Aharon HaGadol, the Great (1736–1772) — was the founder of the Karlin Hasidic dynasty and the first Hasidic master to lead a court in Lithuania, in the heart of what would become Mitnagdic territory. A senior disciple of the Maggid of Mezeritch, he settled in Karlin (a suburb of Pinsk) in 1764 and built one of the largest Hasidic followings of the early generations — so influential that 'Karliner' became a common name for Hasidim across the region.

He composed the Sabbath hymn Yah Ekhsof ('O God, I Long for You'), one of the few canonical Hasidic compositions still sung in Hasidic courts today, and his fiery, passionate prayer with the thunderous calling-out of words ('Karlin shouting') established the distinctive Karlin liturgical style that survives in contemporary Karlin-Stolin communities. He died at only 36; leadership passed first to his disciple R. Shlomo of Karlin, while the dynastic line continued through his son R. Asher of Stolin. His teachings were published posthumously as Beit Aharon.