Levi Yitzchok of Berditchev


Levi Yitzchok of Berditchev , also known as the holy Berdichever, and the Kedushas Levi, was a Hasidic master and Jewish leader. He was the rabbi of Ryczywół, Żelechów, Pinsk and Berdychiv, for which he is best known. He was one of the main disciples of the Maggid of Mezritch, and of his disciple Rabbi Shmelke of Nikolsburg, whom he succeeded as rabbi of Ryczywół. He is also the great-grandfather of Israeli artist Isaac Frenkel Frenel.
Levi Yitzchok was known as the "defense attorney" for the Jewish people, because he would intercede on their behalf before God. Known for his compassion for every Jew, he was one of the most beloved leaders of Eastern European Jewry. He is considered by some to be the founder of Hasidism in central Poland.

Life

Levi Yitzchak was born in 1740 CE to Rabbi Meir and Sarah-Sasha Ruskov in Husakiv, now in Yavoriv Raion, Lviv Oblast of Ukraine. In his youth he was known as the Illui from Yaroslav. He married Perel, the daughter of Rabbi Israel Peretz of Levertov. After his wedding, he studied for several years under Dov Ber of Mezeritch.
In 1784, he settled in Berdychiv, Russian Empire, in what is today Ukraine. There, he served as rabbi until the beginning of the 19th century. Nachman of Breslov called him the Peér of Israel. Levi Yitzchok composed some popular Hasidic religious folk songs, including A Dude'le and "The Kaddish of Rebbe Levi Yitzchok."
He died on the 25th of Tishrei, 5570 and is buried in the old Jewish cemetery in Berdychiv.
The second of his three sons, Israel, succeeded him as leader of the Hasidic movement. One of Levi Yitzchok's grandsons married the daughter of Dovber Schneuri, the second Chabad-Lubavitch rebbe and the first to live in Lyubavichi, [Rudnyansky District, Smolensk Oblast|Lubavitch].

Works

Works by Levi Yitzchak

Secondary works