Crowds of people came to the city of Berditchev in the Ukraine Tuesday to pray at the holy gravesite of the “Defender of Israel” HaRav HaKodesh Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev ztzvk’l on the occasion of the 200th Yoma d’Hilula (Yahrtzeit), 200 years since he passed away, which was on the 25th of Tishrei.

It was a heartwarming sight when the children from the Jewish Talmud Torah in Berditchev and Zitomir prayed at the holy gravesite and recited chapters of Tehillim in tears, visibly moved emotionally. For a long time they sang in a spiritually uplifted fashion the famous song attributed to the Baal HaHilulah zy’a: “Ribono shel Olam! Lav mir machen a beit” while all those present watched with tears streaming from their eyes from the intense emotional moment.

Throughout the day and night a huge throng of chassidim and men of action came to pray at the holy gravesite; they came from all the chareidi concentrations in the world: from Israel, U.S., Canada, Australia and Europe to pour out their prayers and supplication and to shed tears for the salvation of Israel.

Among the masses of those who went up to the gravesite, the appearance of Maran HaAdmor Gaon Av Beis Din of Akava shlit’a and the Admor of Tamashvar shlit’a stood out, and along with the crowd they carried a plea and a prayer with awakening and awesome emotion that they should merit salvation in the merit of the Tzaddik HaKadosh whose entire life was devoted to defending the Jewish people.

The hachnasas orchim organization of the Lelover chassidim in Lizhensk came to help to enable the great success of the logistics for the Hilulah. They brought a lot of equipment to the location to assist the huge logistical operation, to enable meal preparation for the large numbers of people who came from afar to the holy site.

The askanim of the city of Berditchev also joined the operational logistics, headed by HaRav HaGaon Rabbi Shlomo Yom Tov Brier shlita, rav of the city, and HaRav HaGaon Rabbi Moshe Shmuel Thaler shlita, the Chabad emissary in Berditchev, who worked vigorously to organize all the preparations to absorb the masses of guests arriving for the Yoma D’Hilulah Kadisha, establishing special tents where hot meals and drinks were served to the large crowd.

The Seudah for the great Hilulah was held in the evening, led by the rabbis and the important guests in a special tent. They spoke about the holiness of the Baal HaHilulah, noting the sayings of the Tzaddikim of the generations that the very mention of the city name "Berditchev" has an influence of increasing merit for the people of Israel.

The mayor also attended the Hilulah, and said in his remarks that Berditchev was a dignified and important city in the merit of the Jews who lived in it, and he was happy about the ongoing activity in Berditchev by the Chabad emissaries and the rav of the city HaRav Brier who work steadfastly for the education of the city’s children and have blown a breath of fresh air into the Jewish community’s life in Berditchev.

Maran HaAdmor Hagavad of Akava shlit’a, who was hosted in the home of the rav of the city HaRav Brier shlit’a, accepted the request of his host and will stay for a few days, in which he will strengthen and encourage the activities being carried out in Berditchev of spreading the ways of Judaism among the Jewish community there.