The Rebbe Doctor

Many years passed, yet the Bernhard couple remained childless. They were upright Jews, meticulous in their observance of mitzvot, but they were no longer young. Gray hairs had already appeared, yet they never lost faith that one day G-d would bless them with a child.

One day they traveled to the great tzaddik, Rabbi Elimelech of Lizhensk, and poured out their hearts before him. The tzaddik blessed them, and within a year the blessing was fulfilled. In the year 5530 (1770), a son was born to the elderly couple, and they named him Yisrael Chaim David.

From his earliest years, everyone recognized the boy's extraordinary talents. He applied himself diligently to his studies, and his parents pinned great hopes on him, convinced that he would grow to become one of Israel's great scholars.

But these were the days of the Haskalah (Jewish Enlightenment). In Jewish communities a battle raged for the hearts and minds of young Jews, as the maskilim sought to lure them from the Torah.

The Trap

The gifted youth fell into their trap. He became attached to an assimilated Jewish physician, who persuaded him to abandon the path of Torah. Under the doctor's influence, Chaim David left his parents' home and traveled to the University of Berlin to study medicine. Blessed with exceptional intelligence, he excelled in his studies and rose to the top of his class.

Before long he completed his medical training with distinction and opened his own practice. His reputation as a brilliant physician spread far and wide, eventually reaching the Polish royal court. Chaim David was invited to serve as the personal physician of the famous General Winzack.

Gradually he abandoned every trace of Jewish observance. In time he lived as a complete non-Jew. He married Helena Hadassah, the daughter of assimilated parents, and enjoyed a life of wealth, comfort, and prestige. He believed he had reached the pinnacle of success.

The Visit to the Synagogue

Then one day, while Dr. Bernhard and his wife were strolling through the streets of the town of Czarnow, they noticed large numbers of Jews hurrying toward the synagogue with solemn expressions.

"What is happening?" the doctor asked one of them.

The Jew looked at him with surprise. "It is the month of Elul," he replied. "These are the Days of Repentance. Everyone is hurrying to hear the Rabbi deliver words of inspiration in the synagogue."

Curious, the doctor and his wife followed. As they drew closer to the synagogue, they could hear the Rabbi's powerful voice echoing from within. Something stirred deep inside the doctor's heart. "Let's go a little closer," he suggested.

When they reached the entrance, they found the synagogue overflowing. They attempted to enter together, but the congregants explained that the women sat separately in the women's gallery. Reluctantly, they separated. Mrs. Bernhard entered the women's section while the doctor took a seat among the men.

The Rabbi's warm, passionate words touched hidden chords within the doctor's soul. Memories of his childhood, buried beneath years of materialism and spiritual neglect, suddenly came flooding back. At first he struggled to hide his emotions, but soon tears streamed down his face. Unable to contain himself any longer, he burst into uncontrollable sobs that continued until the sermon ended.

Not long afterward, word spread that Dr. Bernhard and his wife had resolved to return to Judaism.

A New Life

They threw away all the expensive non-kosher utensils in their kitchen and replaced them with a completely new kosher set. They even invited a pious Jewish woman to teach Mrs. Bernhard the laws and practices of Jewish life.

Chaim David devoted his remarkable abilities to Torah study and the service of G-d. At the suggestion of friends, he began visiting the court of the Seer of Lublin. He became deeply attached to the great tzaddik and remained his disciple until the Seer's passing. Alongside his spiritual growth, the Seer instructed him to continue practicing medicine.

Yet, he was no longer the same Dr. Bernhard. Everyone recognized the extraordinary holiness of the penitent. Many even believed that the Angel Raphael himself accompanied him wherever he went.

Whenever possible, he avoided accepting invitations from noblemen and non-Jewish patients. When he visited Jewish patients, it became customary for them to hand him a written note (kvittel) containing their names and their mothers' names, as was the practice among chassidim seeking a tzaddik's blessing.

One story is especially well known.

Rabbi Moshe Yechiel, the Head of the Jewish Court of Zalishitz, became critically ill with what appeared to be an incurable disease. Rabbi Chaim David was summoned to his bedside. After examining him, he realized that medicine alone could not save him.

"We need a new kind of healing," he said.

He washed his hands, fastened his belt, and stood beside the patient's bed to pray the evening service. While reciting the Shemoneh Esrei, the Rabbi of Zalishitz, who had been bedridden, suddenly began to perspire. By the time the prayers were finished, he rose from his bed and was able to walk on his own.

After the passing of the Seer of Lublin, Rabbi Chaim David reluctantly agreed, at the urging of many followers, to serve as a Rebbe. Yet even then he did not dress in the elegant silk garments traditionally worn by Chassidic leaders. Instead, he continued to wear the clothing of a physician, including his distinctive top hat. He established his place of prayer in the shtiebel of the outstanding young scholars in Piotrkow.

He was fond of saying: "I would not give up even one of the sins I committed during my lifetime, because the moment I repented out of love, every one of them was transformed into merits and mitzvot."