Levi Yitzchok of Berditchev

Portrait of Levi Yitzchok of Berditchev
Mausoleum of Rabbi Levi Yitzchak in the old cemetery in Berdychiv, May 2002.
Signature

Levi Yitzchok of Berditchev (Levi Yitzchok Derbarmdiger (compassionate in Yiddish) or Rosakov) (1740–1809), 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.[1] He is also the great-grandfather of Israeli artist Isaac Frenkel Frenel.[2]

Levi Yitzchok was known as the "defense attorney" for the Jewish people ("Sneiguron Shel Yisroel"), 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.[3] And known for his fiery service of God.

  1. ^ תולדות קדושת לוי, פרק ב. HebrewBooks.org (in Hebrew). Retrieved 7 March 2013.
  2. ^ "Yitzhak Frenkel". www.berdichev.org. Retrieved 2023-07-01.
  3. ^ Szczepan Wojnarska, Anna Maria. "BEN MEIR LEVI OF BERDICHEV ISAAC". Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 10 September 2014.