Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev

The resting place of R' Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev.

The holy Rabbi Levi Yitzchak Derbarmidiker of Berditchev (5500–25 Tishrei 5570 / 1740–1809) was a disciple of the Maggid of Mezeritch, the close friend and mechutan (in-law) of the Alter Rebbe, and the rabbi and Rebbe of Berditchev. He is universally known by the title "the Defender of Israel" (Saneigor shel Yisrael), for his lifelong practice of arguing on behalf of every Jew before the Heavenly Court.

Life

He was born in 5500 (1740) in the town of Huskiv, Galicia, to his father R' Meir Derbarmidiker, who came from a distinguished rabbinical family.

At the moment of his birth, the Baal Shem Tov said to his disciples that a great soul had descended from Heaven — one that would advocate and intercede on behalf of Israel. In his youth he became known as the "prodigy of Yaroslav," named for the city where he studied. When he came of age he married the daughter of the wealthy R' Yisrael Peretz, and for a time lived in Lyvartiv in his father-in-law's home, devoting himself entirely to Torah study in holiness and purity.

R' Shmelke — who served as rabbi of Ritchval (and was later appointed rabbi of Shinova in 1763 and of Nikolsburg in 1773) — influenced him to travel to the Maggid of Mezeritch, and he became one of the Maggid's foremost disciples, recording many of the Maggid's teachings.

In 1763 he succeeded R' Shmelke in the rabbinate of Ritchval, and in 1765 was appointed rabbi of Zelichov. In 1771 he was appointed rabbi of Pinsk. The Mitnagdim (opponents of Chassidus) fought against him fiercely — on one occasion a mob even attacked and ransacked his home.

In Tammuz 1785 he moved to serve as rabbi of Berditchev, Ukraine, where he became renowned as a man of intense divine service and boundless compassion, a lover of Israel and its great defender and advocate. Thousands of disciples gathered around him, and Berditchev became a major center of Chassidus. His recitation of the Keser prayer on the High Holy Days was said to possess the power to grant children to women who heard it — a claim that Rabbi Chaim of Brisk later substantiated according to the principles of halachic reasoning, to the amazement of the elder Chassidim.

His deeply felt melodies are sung by Chassidim to this day, and he also composed a special prayer in Yiddish for the close of Shabbos.

His Relationship with the Alter Rebbe

Main article: The Great Wedding in Zshlobin

R' Levi Yitzchak was the Alter Rebbe's mechutan on two occasions.

The first was when Rebbetzin Sarah, daughter of the Mitteler Rebbe, married Rabbi Eliezer Derbarmidiker, the son of R' Meir of Berditchev (author of Keser Torah), who was himself the son of R' Levi Yitzchak.

The betrothal took place in the summer of 1804, and the wedding was held on the eve of Shabbos, Parshas Naso, 5567 (1807), in Zshlobin. Both the Alter Rebbe and R' Levi Yitzchak attended, and the event became famous as the Great Wedding of Zshlobin — the first union between a grandchild of the author of the Tanya and a grandchild of R' Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev. Much has been written and told about that wedding.

The second union was the marriage of R' Yekusiel Zalman — son of R' Yosef Bunim Walles, son-in-law of R' Levi Yitzchak — to Rebbetzin Beila, daughter of the Mitteler Rebbe, which took place in Liadi on the eve of Shabbos, Parshas Beshalach, 5568 (1808).

R' Levi Yitzchak was also among the Alter Rebbe's closest friends. One well-known story has it that when R' Levi Yitzchak would reach the words al hakalkalah ("and for sustenance") in the blessing after eating fruit, he would add with a smile: "'Al hakalkalah' — my mechutan doesn't say that" (a lighthearted dig at the Alter Rebbe's poverty and selflessness).

When the Alter Rebbe was arrested, he wished to send Rabbi Yaakov of Smilian to R' Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev to pray on his behalf — but R' Yaakov forgot to find out the Alter Rebbe's mother's name before departing. When he arrived in Berditchev and R' Levi Yitzchak heard the news and the request, and learned that R' Yaakov had not determined the Alter Rebbe's mother's name, he said: "What is a Chassid from Russia? Even without a mother, his Rebbe is good to him." R' Levi Yitzchak then opened a Chumash at random, and the verse that appeared was: "And Yaakov saw that there was shever in Egypt" (Genesis 42:1). R' Levi Yitzchak announced: "'Shever' — these are the initials of Shneur ben Rivkah, imprisoned by Egypt." R' Yaakov asked: "Could it not also stand for 'Shneur ben Rachel'? How do we know it means Rivkah?" R' Levi Yitzchak replied: "The word shever contains the letters Reish and Beis, as in 'Rivkah' — so Shneur ben Rivkah fits far better."

In 5570 (1810), following R' Levi Yitzchak's passing, Rabbi Nachman of Breslov said that one who has open eyes can see that the light of the world has been extinguished.

Out of their deep reverence for their Rebbe, the community of Berditchev never appointed another rabbi to succeed him — all the great Torah figures who came after him were given the titles of dayan (judge) and moreh hora'ah (halachic decisor), never "rabbi."

His Resting Place

After his passing, R' Levi Yitzchak was buried in Berditchev, where a special ohel (memorial structure over a tzaddik's grave) was erected over his grave. During the Holocaust the ohel was covered over and lost, and was only rediscovered during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

In 2018, the Chabad emissary in Berditchev, Rabbi Taler, claimed that R' Levi Yitzchak's grave lay several meters from the site traditionally accepted as his burial place, and erected a new monument at what he believed to be the correct location. In the summer of 2020 the original grave was uncovered — just centimeters from the original traditional site.

In 2022, at the initiative of the Rebbe's emissaries in the city, renovations began on the synagogue of R' Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev.

His Torah Teaching

The Tzemach Tzedek heard from him directly that were it not for the fact that the Torah mentions the sin of pride in so many places (such as the verse "Therefore pride is their necklace" in Psalms), he would not have believed that such a strange quality could exist in the world — for what does a person have to be proud of, when he is here today and in the grave tomorrow?

Works

• Kedushas Levi — on the Torah portions.
• Around the year 2000, manuscripts of his novellae on the Talmud — recorded by his disciples, comprising some 200 pages — were discovered. A sample of approximately ten pages was published in 2002; the remainder has not yet been printed.

Melodies

• Kaddish Niggun of R' Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev
• Niggun of R' Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev
• Niggun Ana Emtza'echa
• A Sheygets
• Mairkeh Mein Zun
• Niggun Um Ani Chomah
• Niggun for Lulav Shaking

Further Reading

• Tzaddikim VeYedidim — on his relationship with the Alter Rebbe, by Rabbi Eliyahu Yochanan Gurarie, Machon Ohalei Shem
• The Great Wedding in Zshlobin — on the marriage ties forged between their descendants, ibid.
• Journey to Berditchev — on the Alter Rebbe's journey to the great Rebbes in 5570, by Rabbi Yehoshua Mondshine
• Ohev Yisrael — passages of stories and talks from the Chabad Rebbes about R' Levi Yitzchak, Beis Moshiach weekly, issue 713
• Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev: History, Thought, Literature, and Melody, edited by Zvi Mark and Roi Horn, Yediot Books and the Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev Chair for the Study of Chassidism, Bar-Ilan University, 2017. 581 pages.

External Links

• Letter from the Alter Rebbe to R' Levi Yitzchak consoling him on the passing of his son R' Meir
• R' Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev in Chabad Tradition — teshura, 5758
• The Crown of Berditchev
• In the Path of R' Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev — Hakriah VeHakedushah, issue 1276, by Mordechai Menashe Laufer
• Lover of Israel: The Life Story of R' Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev — COL
• Stunning aerial footage from the Berditchev cemetery — COL
• Chapter Three: The Walking Stick of R' Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev and a Mysterious Book — COL