Kaddish of Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev — Sanegor Shel Yisrael

Kaddish of Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev — Sanegor Shel Yisrael

Our generation is grievously afflicted by the sin of speaking lashon hara against its own people: Haredim and secular Jews, Ashkenazim and Sephardim, Hasidim and Litvaks, and so on. The Jewish people are what they are. In order that the Almighty would not destroy the Jewish people, Moshe Rabbeinu asked that his name be erased from the Torah. And in every generation, all the righteous have defended their people and spoken in their favor—especially during the Days of Judgment. The greatest Hasid—“Sanegor Shel Yisrael” (defender of the Jewish people), Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev, constantly pleaded with G-d in his prayers not to be excessively angry with the Jews and to see only their good side in everything. During prayer, he often addressed the Creator in Yiddish, calling Him der Bararmdiker—“the Merciful One”. According to tradition, this appellation became the surname of the descendants of Levi Yitzchak ben Meir (Derbaramditker). His prayer in Yiddish has been preserved—“The Kaddish of Rabbi Levi Yitzchak”—in which he calls upon the Almighty to replace anger with mercy and to vindicate His people completely.

Kaddish of Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev

Yitgadal v'yitkadash sh'mei rabbah! “Guten morgen, good morning, Almighty L-rd. I, Levi Yitzchak, son of Sarah from Berditchev, have come before You, L-rd, to demand an answer: What do You want from Israel? Why have You burdened Yourself with the children of Israel? All Your words You address to the children of Israel, and everything You have commanded, You commanded the children of Israel! Are there no other nations that belong to You?                     Romans, Persians, Babylonians? What do the Germans say? The Germans say:                     our law is above all laws. And the Romans—what do they say? Our kingdom                     is above all kingdoms. But I, Levi Yitzchak, son of Sarah from Berditchev,                     declare before You: May Your Name be exalted and sanctified! And I will not budge from where I stand,                    and there I shall continue to stand. An end will come to the darkness of our exile— and at the end of our exile! Yitgadal v'yitkadash sh'mei rabbah!” (May Your Name be exalted and sanctified.) Amen! (translated from Yiddish by Mikhail Gendelev, edited by silatehilim)