In the early 1840s, the Ruzhiner Rebbe fled Russia to escape persecution by the Tsar. He moved his family to Sadigura. The Ruzhiner Rebbe lived in Sadigura for ten years; he built a palatial residence and an imposing synagogue, and attracted tens of thousands of Hasidim. When the Ruzhiner Rebbe died at the age of 54 on 9 October 1850, his six sons established their own courts in different towns. His eldest son, Rabbi Sholom Yosef Friedman (1813-1851), remained in Sadigura to continue leading the court his father had founded, but died ten months later. At this point, the Ruzhiner Rebbe's second son, Rabbi Avrohom Yaakov (1820–1883), assumed the mantle of leadership in Sadigura, becoming known as the first Sadigura Rebbe.