He held no official positions and the writings that are attributed to him are either quoted in his name or compiled from marginal notes he made in his copies of the Talmud, Shulkhan Arukh and mystical works. Nevertheless, his personality and influence sparked a revolution in the Lithuanian Jewish population, the results of which are experienced until this day. His main student Rabbi Chayim Volozhin, founded the first yeshiva in his home town of Volozhin, Lithuania (now in Belarus)