Rabbi Moshe Thaler (left), rabbi of and Chabad-Lubavitch emissary to Berdichev, Ukraine, stands together with Rabbi Shlomo Wilhelm, director of Chabad of Western Ukraine and rabbi of nearby Zhitomir, at the newly unearthed original mausoleum and gravesite of the great Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berdichev (1740-1809), the great "defender of the Jewish people." (Photo: Chabad of Berdichev)
In Berdichev, They’ve Been Walking on the Grave of a Rabbi Who Couldn’t Care Less
In Eastern Europe, there is a truth that lurks just beneath the surface. Beyond the glitz of new developments and predating the drab grayness of Soviet-era construction lie remnants of a lost Jewish world and its inhabitants. It’s the reason why Rabbi Moshe Thaler, director of Chabad-Lubavitch of Berdichev, Ukraine, and the city’s lone rabbi, was unsurprised when construction workers at the tomb of Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berdichev (1740-1809) suddenly hit something.
