Arduous roads to the small and distant town of Radin to be accepted for the Elul zman at the renowned yeshivah of Chafetz Chaim zt”l.
To their deep disappointment, the yeshivah faced severe financial difficulties, and they were not accepted. In their distress, the young men approached the Chafetz Chaim, hoping he could intervene and find a solution. The Chafetz Chaim received them with great love and affection, as was his way. During their conversation, he discovered that these two young men were descendants of the holy Rav Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev zt”l, the Kedushas Levi, known as the senegor (advocate) of Yisrael. As soon as the Chafetz Chaim heard the name “Berditchev,” he decided on the spot to accept them.
The yeshiva’s administrator questioned why these talmidim were accepted when the yeshivah had exceeded its budget, and had decided long ago to accept any more talmidim. The Chafetz Chaim explained, “As we stand now in the Days of Judgment, with the great day of Rosh Hashanah approaching, we must gather as many merits as possible so that our prayers will be accepted with mercy and favor, and that we may emerge righteous in judgment.
“Therefore, I greatly desired to have among us the descendants of the holy Rav of Berditchev zt”l. With them in our yeshivah, his immense and awesome merit, as the great intercessor and advocate for Yisrael, will be aroused on our behalf.”
(The holy Rav of Ruzhin zt”l, said that merely mentioning the name “Berditchev” can arouse mercy and bring merit to Klal Yisrael. He proved this from the clause the Gemara uses when speaking about Yom Kippur (Yoma 3:1): “Until the [sky in the] east was lit up to Chevron.” The Yerushalmi (ibid., end of halachah 1) explains that this was to invoke the merit of the Avos resting in Chevron. If invoking the name of a city alone can awaken such merit, how much more so the merit of such a tzaddik’s descendants—just as his offspring live, so too does he.)
