A Din Torah with Heaven

Chassidim relate that once, standing before the amud, Rav Levi Yitzchak began the Kaddish in a way no one had heard before. Instead of the familiar words, he turned to Hashem directly, in plain Yiddish, the way an advocate turns to a judge.

Good morning to You, Master of the world, he began. I, Levi Yitzchak son of Sarah of Berditchev, have come to You with a din Torah (a case at law) on behalf of Your people Israel. What do You want of Your people? Everywhere it is: command the children of Israel, speak to the children of Israel. Dear Father, how many nations there are in the world.

Then he named them one by one, and said that each proclaims only its own king and its own kingdom. And I, Levi Yitzchak son of Sarah of Berditchev, say: Yisgadal v'yiskadash shmei rabba, may Your great Name be magnified and sanctified. Of all the peoples of the earth, he was saying, it is Israel that lifts its voice to declare the greatness of Hashem's Name.

Then came the words that brought the congregation to tears. I will not move from my place, he declared, until there is an end, until this exile is over. The Kaddish closed as every Kaddish does, with a prayer that Hashem's Name be glorified. But for those who heard it, it had become something more: a son standing before his Father, refusing to let go until his people were answered.

His chassidim preserved the words, and the prayer, known as the Kaddish of Reb Levi Yitzchak or A Din Toyre mit Gott, is still sung today.