Levi Yitzchok Bender - Breslov Leader

Breslov Leader

After his mentor's death, Bender decided to remain in Uman for the next two decades, learning and interacting with other Breslover Hasidim who congregated in the Breslover synagogue built by Reb Noson in 1834. His special leadership qualities were recognized by the other Hasidim, and he assumed leadership of the community together with Rabbi Eliyahu Chaim Rosen. Bender was appointed prayer leader for the annual Breslover Rosh Hashana kibbutz—an honor reserved for the most respected and devout members of the community—when he was only 30 years old.

Between 1932 and 1934, the Ukraine suffered from a famine engineered by Joseph Stalin's forced collectivization of agriculture. An estimated 5 to 8 million Ukrainians died during this time, and Jewish communities starved along with them. Bender and Rosen appealed to organizations both inside and outside Russia, including the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, for food and assistance on behalf of Ukrainian Jews. Their efforts came to the attention of the Soviet authorities, who arrested and imprisoned the two in 1935 on the charge of making contact with a foreign organization. Facing a possible death sentence, they were reprieved with the help of a Jewish official at the ministry of justice in Kiev who was sympathetic to Breslover Hasidim.

Though Bender and Rosen were allowed to return to their homes, they were not allowed to leave the city of Uman. However, both men fled the city. Rosen traveled to Moscow to pick up an exit visa to Israel that was waiting for him, while Bender migrated from city to city, never remaining long in any one place.