Shabbat Parshat Ki-Tavo- 5762
Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev -
The “Saneigor,” Defender, of Israel

(Some of the material in this essay comes from “Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev – Portrait of a Hasidic Master;” by Samuel H. Dresner – Hartmore House; NY; Bridgeport; 1974)

Parshat Ki Tavo contains the most severe “Tochachah,” litany of punishment in the Torah. And if one thinks that there is any trace of exaggeration in it, he should realize that Jewish History, with its long record of destruction, massacres, pogroms and, ultimately, the Holocaust, exceeds even the horrors of the “Tochachah.” There has been a reason, of course, for these great punishments. And Parshat Ki Tavo tells us (Devarim 28:47) what it is, “Because you did not serve the L-rd your G-d with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, because of the abundance of all the material things that you enjoyed.”

But despite frequent bouts of suffering and depression, there have been leaders of the Jewish People, who have raised their spirits along the way. Moshe was such a leader. King David was another. Rabbi Akiva, who saw in his mind’s eye the fulfillment of joyous prophecies, even as he gazed upon the destruction of the Temple, was another. And, in the wake of the Shabbtai Tzvi “False Messiah” debacle, that brought Jewish spirits to a new low, there arose a movement known as “Hasidut,” the raison d’etre of which was the lifting of the Jewish soul. The movement was begun by the Baal Shem Tov in the mid-eighteenth century and within several decades, from 1750 to 1780, it swept across Eastern Europe, liberating thousands of Jewish souls.

When the Baal Shem Tov died in about 1760, he was succeeded by Rabbi Dov Ber, called the “Maggid,” Preacher, of Mezeritch. Many of the Hasidic leaders of the next generation were students of the “Maggid,” including Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev. The founder of Lubavitcher Chassidut, Shneur Zalman of Liady, is known to have said, “The Holy One, blessed be He, is the ‘Tzaddik’ (Righteous One) in Heaven. Rabbi Levi Yitzchak is the ‘Tzaddik’ on earth.” The “Tzaddik,” according to Gershom Scholem (“Major Trends in Jewish Mysticism;” Schocken Books; NY; 1946) represented “the ancient paradox of solitude and communion. He who has attained the highest degree of spiritual solitude, who is capable of being alone with G-d, is the true center of the community...”

“It is said that if Levi Yitzchak heard one Jew speaking ill of another ..., he would turn, seize him by the arm, and say, ‘My brother, how can you repeat such gossip, Heaven Forbid, about the Tefilin of the Holy One, Blessed be He, in which our Sages tell us is written, ‘Who is like unto the People Israel?’ ” (Dresner; P. 52)

As we approach the “Yamim Noraim,” the High Holy Days, when “Teshuvah,” Repentance, will play such a key role in determining our fate, it would greatly behoove us to pay attention to the following paraphrase by Dresner of an idea in Ki Tavo, found in “Kedushat Levi” by Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev, “There are two kinds of servants: one who sees the face of his king each day and therefore obeys him; another who rarely sees the face of the king but of a sudden rouses himself from his lethargy to obey the king. Thus each day as he toils to eke out his livelihood, this latter asks the king nothing for himself. His only wish is that he might turn from all other concerns and serve the king. Mighty is the L-rd’s joy with such a man. ‘See this man who was a sinner,’ He says, ‘but he has now chosen to serve Me, for he was brutish and went in the way of the fool but now is filled with fervor for the service of the L-rd.’ And this is the meaning of the Talmudic passage: ‘In the place of repentant sinners, the righteous are not worthy to stand.’ ”

Rabbi Pinchas Frankel

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