The Bardichever Rebbe was famous for his relentless advocacy on behalf of the Jewish people. There are many well-known stories showing how he would use anything and everything, from a mitzvah a Yid did to an apparent aveirah, to bring out the greatness of Yidden. But another unique way he went to bat for the Jewish people was through his creative use of Torah, tefillah, and many other elements of Yiddishkeit, finding ways to prove to Hashem why He must pour down shefa, take care of our needs, and take us out of galus.
There is an old sefer called Toldos Kedushas Levi, which has barely been printed in the last hundred years but used to appear in the back of some editions of Kedushas Levi in prewar Europe (it is available on Otzar Hachachma). In it, there is an incredible compilation of many of the unique arguments the Bardichever Rebbe used to defend the Jewish people before our Father in Heaven. In honor of this special yahrtzeit edition, we’ve translated a few of these into English on these pages.
Our tzadikim teach us that even mentioning the name of the town “Bardichev” awakens Heavenly mercy. The holy Bardichever Rebbe, Rav Levi Yitzchak ben Sara Sosha, is undoubtedly continuing to advocate for our nation from his place in Gan Eden. Let’s learn from his example to turn everything we can into a reason to see good things, think good thoughts, and say good things about Yidden.
הנה הבורא ברוך הוא בחר רק בישראל, לפיכך אין שום אחד רשאי לומר על ישראל שום דבר רע, רק ללמד זכות על ישראל
Hashem chose only the Jewish people, therefore not a single person has any permission to say anything bad about the Jewish people, but rather only to find merit in the Jewish people.
Kedushas Levi, Parshas Bo