STORY
Yissachar Dov of Radoshitz: Children and Grandchildren
Rabbi Yissachar Dov of Radoshitz was born in 5525 (1765) to Rabbi Yitzchak, who was an attendant of the Maggid of Mezritch. When Rabbi Yitzchak came of age, the Maggid of Mezritch urged him to marry Miriam, a servant in his house who was sickly and had difficulty finding a match. In return for this deed, the Maggid promised Rabbi Yitzchak that he would have a son who would illuminate the world, and indeed, Rabbi Yissachar Dov was born. In his youth, Rabbi Yissachar Dov lived in Chmielnik, where he served Rabbi Eliezer Lippa Weisblum, son of Rabbi Elimelech of Lizhensk, who resided there. Additionally, he learned from many tzaddikim such as Rabbi Elimelech, Rabbi Moshe Leib of Sassov, the Seer of Lublin, and many others. During that time, his name was not yet well-known, and he lived in great poverty, being careful not to ask anything from anyone, until finally he became known as a great wonder-worker and many flocked to him. One of his descendants published the book "Wonders of the Holy Grandfather," containing testimonies of super-natural healing of the sick, many salvations that the tzaddik effected, and even accounts of resurrection of the dead. The Holy Grandfather (Saba Kadisha), as he was known, passed away on Friday, the eve of Shabbat Parashat Shelach, the 18th of Sivan 5603 (1843).
The chasid Reb Yaakov Yitzchak of Brizin once came to the Holy Grandfather of Radoshitz (as Rabbi Yissachar Dov of Radoshitz was called) and poured out his sorrow. His children were not surviving past their early childhood. The Holy Grandfather instructed him that when his wife would be close to giving birth, he should come to him. The chasid did as the tzaddik said, and when his wife reached the seventh month of her pregnancy, he traveled back to Radoshitz. The tzaddik asked him for his father's name, and when he replied that it was Yirmiyahu, he instructed him to name the son who would be born Chaim Yirmiyahu. Before leaving Radoshitz, the chasid entered to receive a farewell blessing from the tzaddik, and the tzaddik blessed him that the son to be born would survive. He concluded with the Torah verse: "And the sons of Dan, Chushim."
The man did not dare to ask the tzaddik what he meant by those words, and he traveled home. His wife gave birth to a son, and they named him Chaim Yirmiyahu as the tzaddik had instructed.
