Reb Yitzchak Chaim Dovber HaLevi Vilenski was known as a great maskil and oved and was a chossid of the Rebbe Maharash and the Rebbe Rashab. He lived in Kremenchug where he was known as one of the “Kremenchuger Beralach” (A number of great chassidim in Kremenchug were named Dov or Berel; Reb Berel Moshe’s, Reb Dov Masaiov, and others. The Frierdiker Rebbe records them all as having powerful minds, great hearts, which would daven long with exuberance of the heart and a sweet voice, and would all publicly recite Chassidus.) Though he lost two wives and a son, he was always a source of inspiration and joy.
The Frierdiker Rebbe describes the first time he met Reb Chaim Ber:
“One day I returned from cheder to eat lunch in my home. It was a hot summer day, and when I came to the chatzer (yard), Reb Chaim Ber asked me how to get to the yard behind my father’s home. I showed him the entrance next to the well, and I followed to see what he was going to do in the garden. Near the entrance to the garden there were a few benches. Reb Chaim Ber took off his hat and sat there. And I went home.
“At seven o’clock, I came home with my friends and we went to play in the garden. How surprised I was to see Reb Chaim Ber sitting in the same position as five hours earlier. My young mind just could not grasp how a person could sit for five hours and think. I have seen people sitting and learning for hours on end, but never sitting and thinking for so long...”
Reb Chaim Ber despised publicity and would go to great lengths to avoid it. At farbrengens he would usually sit quietly and listen to others speak, though he was the focus of their attention. At chazara of the ma’amar as well, he would listen and not comment.
When he got married in Lubavitch, he was insistent that only the required minyan of people should attend. Even in business Reb Chaim Ber did not want to be popular, though he knew that he lost out as a result.
When his son was Bar Mitzvah age, the boy's melamed claimed that it was time for the boy to begin learning Poskim. Reb Chaim Ber argued that it wasn’t appropriate that a thirteen year old boy should be able to pasken halacha (this would leave him feeling haughty). He therefore set up a system of learning where the boy would learn Poskim in the context of Gemara, and would thus not know how to pasken.
