The Berditchever Fights the Decree

It is told that before the decree was sealed and the fate of Rav Shlomo of Karlin was decided, the matter was revealed from Heaven to Rav Levi Yitzchok of Berditchev, the advocate and defender of the Jewish people. The Berditchever stood against the decision and tried to cancel the decree.

He was told that if the Karliner lived, a great calamity would fall on the people. He paid no attention and kept fighting the decree, so great was the Karliner in his eyes.

Then Heaven showed him a description of the destruction that would come, and compared it to the deaths of thousands upon thousands, like the terrible decrees of Tach VeTat (1648–1649), which began on the twentieth of Sivan, during the pogroms that swept across Eastern Europe. At that, the Berditchever stopped trying to cancel it. He was left with no choice but to accept the harsh decree.