A Yom Kipur With The Kedushas Levi

Once, on the eve of Yom Kippur, a young Torah scholar (avrech) arrived in the town of Yaroslav. It was just before the start of Kol Nidre and suddenly the young avrech appeared in the Shul. Without any words or introductions he went up to the reader's stand and began to chant the Kol Nidre prayer in frightening and hauntingly beautiful melody. Not one of the members present in the Shul could identify the stranger or explain his behavior, but since he was clearly a person of considerable spiritual stature, they allowed him to continue uninterrupted.

After the Maariv prayer the avrech chanted all of the Shirei Yichud (Songs of Unity) and then began to recite Tehillim (Psalms) all the while standing. When the members of the shul arrived back in the morning, they found the arech still standing on his feet absorbed in prayer. As soon as a minyan assembled he began with Adon Olam and continued to lead Shacharis prayer. He himself read from the Torah and chanted the Haftorah. He said Yizhkor and then began the arduous Mussaf prayer. At this point the members were suspicious if he was indeed a mortal human being or some kind of angel that had descended on this awesome day; for his voice and his stamina were other worldly. Then there were times when the avrech was silent and the congregation sang. They themselves reached such heights of exultation that they were sure that he was indeed a mortal and they were his equals. But as the Neilah prayer drew to a close, the congregation, thoroughly swept up by his singing and roaring as he stormed the gates of prayer to bring in Klal Yisrael in Teshuva, felt certain that he could indeed be only an angel.

One of those present that special Yom Kippur, was R' Yaakov Meshullam Orenstein, the author of the work Yeshuos Yaacov. It from him that we know of this whole story. R' Yaacov Meshullam decided to follow the young man after the completion of the services. He went after him to his lodgings to see if he would eat now or not. He saw how he heard the havdalah ceremony from others and then asked his host for some kvickenish (a tasty morsel) to refresh his soul since he was hungry.

They immediately brought him some cake and fruit, but he thundered, "No this is not what I need, bring me a volume of (the Talmudic) tractate Sukkah. With that he retired to his room claiming that he wanted to rest. R' Yaacov Meshullam peeked in the key hole and saw that he opened up his book and started to learn with extraordinary exuberance, not pausing for a minute. R' Yaacov Meshullam could already not stay awake himself, so he left to break his fast and to rest. In the early morning he returned to find that the avrech was still learning and about to complete the final page of the tractate. Only after that did he proffer a sheepish request for a glass of coffee and a bit of cake.

This young avrech was none other than R' Levi Yitzchok of Berditchev, the Kedushas Levi. He is the same R' Levi Yitzchok whose son writes about him in the introduction to his own book Keser Torah, that ". . . he raised up thousands upon thousands of disciples . . . and ignited within them a passion for learning Torah and serving the Creator with love. His own divine service was such that even the angels above were envious of him!"