Rabbi David Biderman of Lelov רבי דוד בידרמן מלעלוב
founder of the Lelov court; the man of whom it was said that he could not speak ill of a Jew
He studied under Rabbi Elimelech of Lizhensk and then under the Chozeh of Lublin; he was close to the Yid HaKadosh of Pshischa and to the Maggid of Kozhnitz.
What he is remembered for. Not for teaching. Only one thing is told of him, but insistently: he could not speak ill of a Jew and would not agree to listen when others did. The chasidic tales of him are almost all about this, and Pshischa and Kotzk, which grew up nearby, cited him as a living argument.
The Land of Israel. At the end of his life he set out for it. Where he died the sources say differently: some that he arrived and died in the Land of Israel, others that he did not arrive. We name both readings and do not choose.
He died on 7 Shevat 1814. His son led the Lelov court on.
On the timeline
Related
Sources
Acharonim and later rabbinic literature
- The Lelov tradition that he did not judge — the one thing he is remembered for
Documents of the period
- Testimonies on the journey to the Land of Israel, 1813–1814 — both readings on the place of his death
Basis: documents and evidence.