We all know the famous stories about Reb Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev, the way he could take a scene that looked, by all reasonable standards, like a spiritual disaster and still, somehow, locate within it a kind of radiant innocence. He could find the silver lining in the most unlikely places. Because of that, he’s known as the Sanegora Shel Yisroel, the defense attorney for the Jewish people, the one perpetually arguing our case before the heavenly court.
However, as we find in the seforim hakdoishim, a person’s name is a very strong indication of the root of their neshama. With both of his names, Reb Levi Yitzchak, Levi and Yitzchak, appear to be oriented towards the side of gevurah, the side of din — the opposite of chesed!
Levi, the Zohar tells us, is the archetypal opposite energy of Kohen: the Kohen represents chesed, and Levi is more gevurah. Yitzchak, the tzadik’s second name, goes without saying: Yitzchak is the nezer hagvurah, the prototype of gevurah, the embodiment of this middah. So, accordingly, the name Levi Yitzchak is oriented towards gevurah. His avodah was, likewise, done with volcanic hislahavus, a fiery passion and a lot of energy, which is also described by the seforim to be oriented towards the side of gevurah. It’s well known that he served Hashem literally with jumping and somersaults and unbelievable avodos. Both his name and his avodah indicates that the root of his neshama was more oriented to the side of gevurah.
In a general way, the avodas Hashem of a chesed oriented neshama is usually more calm, more restrained, more internal; as opposed to those neshamos that are more gevurah oriented, whose avodas Hashem is usually more with outward fire and passion.
How can we understand the contradiction between Rav Levi Yitzchak’s name and his avodah?
This shows us that the external expression of a neshama can sometimes be the opposite of its root. Ironically, this very contrast is what made the Berditchever the greatest saneigora shel Yisroel we could have.
It’s one thing for a person to be a defender of the Jewish people when they are just sort of glossing over the truth, overlooking things, and simply defining things with kindness and compassion – al pi chesed. But the greatest saneigora, the greatest defense is when a person truly sees the experience and sees it as positive al pi din, according to strict judgment.
Reb Levi Yitzchak was not someone that was trying to fool himself or fool others or fool Heaven by just childishly seeing the positive or putting positive spins on experiences. He saw things this way because this was truly how he, al pi din – which is the side of gevurah — saw Yidden. The only legitimate explanation for experiences that he saw were positive; it was just how he understood the nature of a Jew to be, al pi din, even on the side of gevurah.
We tend to think that being a saneigora shel Yisroel means to be dan l’kaf zechus on someone else. For example, if we see someone driving into a McDonald’s we may assume that they just need the bathroom. And then, if you see he’s not using the bathroom but that he’s standing in line to order, you think he might just be getting a bottle of water. And then, when he orders a cheeseburger, maybe he’s buying it for a non Jew. And if you see him sit down and take a bite of the cheeseburger, then dan l’kaf zechus means thinking okay, so maybe he has some sort of illness and it’s pikuach nefesh unless he eats a cheeseburger right now!
We may tend to think that the avodah is to come up with ridiculous cockamamie stories in order to legitimize being don l’kaf zchus. But that’s not really what it means to be saneigora shel Yisroel in that scenario.
When the situation is obvious that he’s eating a cheeseburger, you don’t have to come up with crazy stories. Rather, despite everything you’re seeing, you still define a Jew as an entity that’s holy and connected to Hashem — no matter what — and despite the mistakes that the person makes, the absolute truth of who the person is cannot be undermined.
The great saneigor shel Yisroel is not someone that’s coming up with delusional stories or delusional ways of thinking to define scenarios outside of the absolute truth — quite the opposite. His name is Levi Yitzchak, his avodah is more gevurah, more on the side of din, which means that he is defining the situation to the absolute accuracy of the truth, because the ultimate truth is that every Jew is holy and connected to Hashem. And any experience that a Yid has or goes through should be defined based on that absolute truth.
Even when the action of our fellow Jew is crystal clear, and being don l’kaf zchus is not possible, our role is to think, feel, and express the ultimate truth about every Yid; that we are all holy and intrinsically connected to Hashem.
This article was found in Nekuda Tova Issue 55 Berditchever Yahrtzeit Edition.
