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Grave
Yisrael Dov Ber of Veledniki
Rabbi Yisrael Dov Ber ben Yosef of Veledniki - Baal Mofet (miracle worker), author of "Sheerit Yisrael," which consists of 3 parts, one of them "on repentance during the fast days of Shovavim."
Yahrzeit - 21 Tevet;
Burial place - Old Veledniki.
He was born in the village of Staraya Kotelnya, located between Berdichev and Zhitomir on the Guyva River (along road No. 0601 from Zhitomir to Skvira).
So it was that in 1789 in Kotelnya, a son was born to the melamed Rabbi Yosef and Perl Gita, and he was given the name Yisrael Dov Ber.
When he was about four years old, his father, Rabbi Yosef, left this world, and when he was about nine, his mother's soul also ascended to Gan Eden, leaving little Isrolik a complete orphan.
It is told that before her death she called him to her and asked him to bring her some book. This surprised him greatly, since he knew well that his mother could not read the Holy Tongue - and there were no other books in the house. So he asked her which book exactly she wanted. His mother said it did not matter, whichever one came to hand first - and the son handed her a heavy volume of the Rif's responsa.
Taking the book in her hands, she said: "Holy letters, plead before the Almighty for my little son Yisrulik Ber, that he grow up to be a G-d-fearing Jew..." - for she already knew that she had little time left in this world. Many years later, Rabbi Yisrael Dov himself told this story to a woman who asked for his blessing for her son, "that he grow up to be like you." After telling the story, he said: "If you are a mother like my mother was, then your son will be like me."
Even then he became known as the "illui of Kotelnya."
When he was 12 years old, it happened that the holy Rabbi Menachem Nachum of Chernobyl was delayed for 9 days in nearby Zhitomir. In the synagogue he asked the talmidei chachamim studying there: "Which of you can complete a siyum on any tractate of the Talmud tomorrow?" No one was ready to take on such a burden. Then he turned to the young Yisrael Dov: "Can you?" He immediately answered: "If the Rebbe says so, I will make a siyum!" The Chernobyler asked which tractate exactly he wanted to study, and in response he heard: "Whichever the Rebbe wants."
The Chernobyler turned to the shelf, took out tractate Bava Batra, and handed it to Yisrael Dov.
He sat all night by candlelight over the book - and by noon the next day he came to the Chernobyler to make the siyum. Seeing the astonishment in the tzadik's eyes, he said: "The Rebbe may test me - I remember even the number of names of all the Tannaim and Amoraim in this tractate, both the total and on any given page."
At the age of 13 (his Bar Mitzvah, 5562), he traveled to the town of Pogrebishche, where the holy Rabbi Shalom Shachna, son of the holy Rabbi Avraham "the Angel" and grandson of the great Maggid of Mezeritch, lived at that time. He then studied for some time with the tzadik of Lechovich, and he himself always emphasized that teacher's influence, although the most significant of his teachers later became Rabbi Mordechai of Chernobyl.
After his marriage, Rabbi Yisrael Dov became the rabbi of the town of Veledniki (now Old Veledniki, since there is also a New Veledniki nearby) on the Norin River, a bit west of Ovruch.
He became known as the "Baal Shem" of Veledniki from 1829, while his teacher was still alive.
His teachings were collected by the son of his student, Rabbi Alexander Sender, and published as a book titled "Sheerit Yisrael" (Lvov, 5624). Approbations for the book were written by Rabbi Aharon of Chernobyl and Rabbi David of Talne (sons of Rabbi Mordechai of Chernobyl).
"Sheerit Yisrael" consists of three "gates":
1. Obedience and attachment to tzadikim;
2. Teachings for the festival days;
3. On repentance during the fast days of Shovavim.
Wherever in his book "Sheerit Yisrael" he says "I heard from my teacher," he means the holy Rabbi Motele of Chernobyl.
Here is one example of the author citing the father of his teacher, the holy Rabbi Menachem Nachum of Chernobyl:
Sheerit Yisrael (Shaar HaItkashrut, Drush 6, Maamar 1):
"It is said in tractate Chullin 17b: 'Rav Sheshet would test (the shechita knife) with the tip of his tongue' - one could say that during the meal, when he touched the food (meat) with the tip of his tongue, he would immediately sense the quality of the knife's sharpening beforehand (i.e., before the shechita of that meat). As, for example, happened with the holy Rabbi Nachum of Chernobyl. When a chicken was slaughtered for him, during the meal he could sense all the thoughts of the shochet during the shechita, and so on."
Once the Veledniker said to his students about himself:
"When a cow passes by the window of my house, just by looking at it I can know all the deeds of its owner from the day of its birth until that very day."
Segulot from the Rebbe of Veledniki
Zera shel chaya ve-kayama (the birth of a healthy child).
The Rebbe told the following story: "Once a Jew came to the holy Rebbe of Velednik (who was 'a Polish good Jew') and asked for a blessing for 'zera chaya ve-kayama' (that a healthy child be born). The holy Rabbi of Velednik told him to hang silk curtains in his bedroom, as a 'segula' for the birth of a boy.
Later his students asked him - where is it written that silk curtains are a segula for the birth of boys? The Veledniker Rav answered them that it is written explicitly ('meforash') in 'Asader Liseudata': 'Vilein milaiyo - yeon lirkiayo' - that is, when they hang ('li rkiayo') curtains ('milaiyo' in Aramaic refers to something made of silk fabric), then 'taman man sharyo?' (who will be there?) - 'alo hu shimsho!' (shemesh-zun in Yiddish means both 'sun' and 'son') - meaning boys will be born..."
When the Chabad chassidim at 770 heard this "pshetl," they laughed - but immediately fell silent, because the Rebbe said with a very serious face: "In this case, the 'cleverness of the tzadik's explanation' did not matter at all - the main thing was that the chassid listened to his Rebbe, and indeed a son was born to him!!!" (The trick is not in the explanation - the trick is that afterward he had a son.) Among the chassidim listening to the Rebbe's story at that moment were three young Chabad chassidim who also had trouble having children. One of them took the Rebbe's words very seriously and decided to do the same in his own home. The other two laughed at him. The first one had a son born to him, while the other two, unfortunately, remained childless. (This story, with names and details, is recorded in "Heichal Negina.")
It is written in "Siach Zkeinim" that Gaon Rabbi David Tzvi Hen had a son born to him, but the next pregnancy ended in miscarriage. At that time it was customary for husbands to travel for a blessing to the Rebbe, the Tzemach Tzedek, while the wives went to the Tzadik of Veledniki. So his wife, together with her "companion," traveled to Veledniki. When they came to the tzadik, she said that her husband had been in Lubavitch and had received a blessing from the Rebbe - but the child did not survive. The tzadik promised her that she would have a daughter. When asked what name to give her, the tzadik answered: "Nokh mayn mame" (after my mother). When she asked for his mother's name, he answered "Perle Gute" (and this, incidentally, is the only source from which we know his mother's name). When her companion asked for a blessing for children, the tzadik, showing her his palm, said: "When hair grows here, children will be born to you! You should not have killed cats as a child."
It is written in the book "Beis Rebbe" that after the Mitteler Rebbe departed from this world, some Lubavitcher chassidim traveled to Velednik to ask Rabbi Yisrael Dov to become their mentor. He sent them back to "the holy Rabbi Mendel" (the Tzemach Tzedek), and then lamented:
"What is this?! How can they live only by the mind, without emotion?! The great 'Baal HaTanya' gave his chassidim the very best rifles, the very best gunpowder and bullets, and taught them to shoot - yet they don't want to, they just fuss over the rifles like toys."
It is said that before his passing he promised help to anyone who would even hold onto the handle of the door to his ohel (mausoleum).
During World War II, the Nazis wanted to turn the tzadik's mausoleum into a fuel depot, ignoring the protests of the local residents. When they tried to break the gravestone that was in the way of placing the fuel barrels, one of the men breaking it died on the spot, and another became disabled. But even though they failed to break the gravestone, they still managed to squeeze several barrels one on top of another - and on the very first night, one of the barrels crushed a guard to death. The officer in charge of the fuel laughed at his subordinates' fear and said he would spend the next night in the mausoleum himself. What exactly happened there is unknown, but the depot was removed from the mausoleum.
When the Red Army retook Veledniki from the fascists, not a single house remained intact - artillery from both sides had leveled the town. Except for the tzadik's mausoleum! It was from there that the Soviet authorities began rebuilding the town. But they too decided to play with fire - they decided to demolish the mausoleum. Workers came and began digging under the walls of the mausoleum - but by morning all the trenches were filled with earth again! This happened a couple more times, until the authorities gave up.
Even in Soviet times, Jews came from far away to visit his grave. Before me even now lies a two-kopeck coin (from 1988), which about eighteen years ago the late Reb Nissan (Uncle Nyuma) Sherman gave me as a "segula li-yeshua" - he used to travel every year from Kishinev to the grave of the Veledniker. Upon arriving, he would place this coin on the gravestone, pray, and when leaving, take it back with him - that, he said, was the custom among Jews in those days! "Always carry this coin in your wallet, and the tzadik will always help you." (Eliyahu HaKatan Getz)
Segula at the Grave
There is a tradition of placing house keys and a coin on the Tzadik's grave for good luck - then taking them back and carrying them with you at all times.
(21 тевета йорцайт раби исраэл дов бэр)
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Source: https://silatehilim.com/en/kivrei_tsadikim/кевер-рабби-исраэль-дов-бэр-из-веледни/
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