The Avnei Nezer

R. Avraham Bornstein of Sochatchov (1838-1910), the Avnei Nezer, was the founding Rebbe of the Sochatchov Hasidic dynasty and produced one of the great hybrid Hasidic-Litvish halachic corpora of the late-19th century. Son-in-law of the Kotzker Rebbe and Talmudic-style talmid of R. Hanokh Henoch of Aleksander, he uniquely combined Kotzk's intellectual intensity with Litvish halachic rigor. His Avnei Nezer responsa (multiple volumes) and Eglei Tal on the 39 melachot of Shabbos are essential halachic resources; his son R. Shmuel Bornsztain (the Shem MiShmuel) succeeded him.