125. Reb Levi Yitzchak Of Berditchev Delays Shofar Blowing

00:16 Shalom Aleichem, kinders. Yesterday, 27 Tishrei was the yahrtzeit of the Berditchever, Reb Levi Yitzchok of Berditchev. I'll just share with you a couple of stories about the Berditchever, stories that were told by other tzadikim. One of the Chortkover rebbes told the following story. One Rosh Hashanah, Reb Levi Yitzchok Berditchever was getting ready for Tekias Shofar. He went to the mikveh before blowing the shofar, and then put on his kittel and his tallis. He said seven times Lam Natzeach Livnei Kerach. And all-- the whole community, the whole shul, everybody said after him the whole... the seven times Lam Natzeach. Then he read a few portions of the Zohar. Then he took the shofar, ready to blow. But he didn't blow. He just h-held the shofar in his hand and didn't do anything. People are waiting. They're waiting for the moment when Reb Levi Yitzchok is gonna start blowing the shofar, but nothing. He's, he's just holding the shofar, ready to say the berachos and to blow, and then there's nothing. He puts down the shofar again, then he takes it again, ready to say the beracha, and then he puts it down again, and there's no shofar. So people were very wondering, "What's going on?" So Reb Levi, the Berditchever saw that the people were very surprised, so he told them like this: "Reb Itzai, right there at the end of the shul, near the door, there's a Jew who is sitting and doesn't know how to read Hebrew. He grew up amongst Goyim, but he

02:16 came here especially because he knew it's Yom Kippur, and he wants to fast and be amongst Jews. And when he saw people davening, he got very jealous 'cause he wanted also to daven. So he began to cry and said to Hashem, in-- while crying, he said to Hashem, 'Hashem, you know what a pure tefillah is. You know what kavanas a person has to have when they daven. I don't know anything. I just know the 22 letters of the Alef Bet. So I'll say for you the Alef Bet.' And he started saying Alef, Bet, Gimel, Daled. He says, 'Hashem, now that I said the whole Alef Bet, can you please take these letters that I just said to you, and you put together the whole davening from those letters of Alef Bet?'" And Reb Levi Yitzchok Berditchever concluded and said, "Hashem is now busy taking those letters of that Jew and putting together the whole tefillah of Rosh Hashanah, and that's why I have to wait." That's one story. Another story with the Reb Levi Yitzchok Berditchever, it was Erev Yom Kippur, and he said, made an announcement in the city of Berditchev that anyone who wants to have a beracha from him has to come-- can come now to his-- to, to, to the shul where he's sitting and take-- and give him two coins for every person that wants a beracha. And if they give him the two coins for tzedakah, obviously, then he'll give them a beracha. So everybody, of course, in the

04:19 whole city wanted to get a special beracha Erev Yom Kippur from the great tzadik. So everybody came with two kopiks, two, two coins, and with that-- with those two coins for tzedakah, Reb Levi Yitzchok offered them a beracha. He sat there like this the whole day. People kept coming and coming. It was almost time for Kol Nidre. It's time for eating Seudat Mafsekes first, and then Kol Nidre. But Reb Levi Yitzchok didn't pay attention to people telling him, "Rebbe, it's time to get-- you know, to stop and, and start eating the seudah so you can go to Kol Nidre on time because it's getting late." But Reb Levi Yitzchok didn't pay attention. Then came a woman at the very end. A woman came with two coins, and she had a, a child in her arms. So Reb Levi Yitzchok said to her, "Well, do you want a beracha for you and your child? Then you have to give me four, four kopiks, four coins. I said two coins for every person." So the woman said, she's crying, she says, "Rebbe, I worked so hard to find these two prutas, these two coins. I'm very, very poor, and I couldn't find more than two. Please, can you make an exception for me?" Reb Levi Yitzchok says, "No. No, no, no, I can't make exceptions. If you don't have four coins, two for yourself and two for your son, then I can't give you a beracha for both of you." So the woman said, "You know what,

05:52 Rebbe? In that case, I, um, I don't, I don't care about myself, so I won't have a beracha. But I want my son to have a beracha." And she gave him the two coins. "Please give my son a beracha. So for me, okay, maybe I won't have such a great year this year, but I want my son to have a good year." When Reb Levi Yitzchok heard this, he says, "Ah." He got so excited, he jumped up full of excitement, and he says, "I've been waiting for this." And he, and he was-- got all so emotional, so excited. He started running around and saying, "Ah, ah, I just heard the most amazing thing from this woman." And then he said, "Reboinosheloilam, Hashem, look. Look at these Jews. Here's a Jewish woman who's so poor, she's willing to give up getting a beracha for herself only that her son would have a beracha. And you, You are our Father, and we are Your children. Do it for us. We're Your children. Just like this mother was willing to forgo her own beracha just for her child, You also look after us, even if we offended You, even if we did something wrong. Forgive and do it for us." These are the stories about the Berditchever and, um, zechuso yagen aleinu.