Kvitel
Encyclopedia
- This article refers to the prayer note; for the card game see KvitlechKvitlechKvitlech is a game similar to blackjack played in some Jewish homes during the Hanukkah season. Hanukkah card playing was a traditional cover for Torah study, which had been outlawed for Jews by a Syrian-Greek king in the 2nd century BCE .The original kvitlech deck consisted of 31 numbered cards,...
.
Kvitel refers to a practice developed by Hasidic Judaism
Hasidic Judaism
Hasidic Judaism or Hasidism, from the Hebrew —Ḥasidut in Sephardi, Chasidus in Ashkenazi, meaning "piety" , is a branch of Orthodox Judaism that promotes spirituality and joy through the popularisation and internalisation of Jewish mysticism as the fundamental aspects of the Jewish faith...
in which a Hasid (a follower of Hasidic Judaism) writes a note with a petitionary prayer and gives it to a Rebbe
Rebbe
Rebbe , which means master, teacher, or mentor, is a Yiddish word derived from the Hebrew word Rabbi. It often refers to the leader of a Hasidic Jewish movement...
(Hasidic Jewish leader) in order to receive the latter's blessing. This prayer may be a general request for health, livelihood, or success, or a specific request such as recovery from illness, the ability to bear children, a wedding match, etc.
The writing, giving and reading of a kvitel is treated very seriously by Hasid and Rebbe alike, and is executed according to specific protocols. Because of their inherent sanctity, kvitelach may not be thrown away after use; they are either burned or buried.
The practice of giving kvitelach continues today in all the Hasidic courts. Kvitelach are also placed on the graves of Rebbes and tzadikim
Tzadik
Tzadik/Zadik/Sadiq is a title given to personalities in Jewish tradition considered righteous, such as Biblical figures and later spiritual masters. The root of the word ṣadiq, is ṣ-d-q , which means "justice" or "righteousness", also the root of Tzedakah...
(plural of "tzadik," or Jewish holy man) with the hope that the soul of the deceased will intercede for the petitioner in Heaven.
It is a centuries-old custom for Jews to place kvitelach containing personal prayers to God between the stones of the Western Wall
Western Wall
The Western Wall, Wailing Wall or Kotel is located in the Old City of Jerusalem at the foot of the western side of the Temple Mount...
in Jerusalem. This practice has been also adopted by Christian pilgrims
Christian pilgrimage
Christian pilgrimage was first made to sites connected with the ministry of Jesus. Surviving descriptions of Christian pilgrimages to the Holy Land and Jerusalem date from the 4th century, when pilgrimage was encouraged by church fathers like Saint Jerome and established by Helena, the mother of...
and foreign dignitaries as well. More than a million prayer notes are placed in the Western Wall each year.
Origin
It is unclear when the practice of writing and giving kvitelach began. This practice is not mentioned in the writings of the early kabbalistsKabbalah
Kabbalah/Kabala is a discipline and school of thought concerned with the esoteric aspect of Rabbinic Judaism. It was systematized in 11th-13th century Hachmei Provence and Spain, and again after the Expulsion from Spain, in 16th century Ottoman Palestine...
, nor in the works of the school of Isaac Luria
Isaac Luria
Isaac Luria , also called Yitzhak Ben Shlomo Ashkenazi acronym "The Ari" "Ari-Hakadosh", or "Arizal", meaning "The Lion", was a foremost rabbi and Jewish mystic in the community of Safed in the Galilee region of Ottoman Palestine...
(1534-1572), the father of modern Kabbalah. The first time it is mentioned is during the time of the Baal Shem Tov (1698-1762), founder of Hasidism.
Some scholars have suggested that the practice is based on Biblical commentator Nahmanides
Nahmanides
Nahmanides, also known as Rabbi Moses ben Naḥman Girondi, Bonastruc ça Porta and by his acronym Ramban, , was a leading medieval Jewish scholar, Catalan rabbi, philosopher, physician, kabbalist, and biblical commentator.-Name:"Nahmanides" is a Greek-influenced formation meaning "son of Naḥman"...
's (1194-1270) interpretation of the scriptural verse "And all those that were numbered of the children of Israel by their fathers' houses, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war in Israel" . In his commentary on the Torah
Torah
Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five books of the bible—Genesis , Exodus , Leviticus , Numbers and Deuteronomy Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five...
(the Five Books of Moses
Moses
Moses was, according to the Hebrew Bible and Qur'an, a religious leader, lawgiver and prophet, to whom the authorship of the Torah is traditionally attributed...
), Nahmanides contends that Moses asked each Jew to come before him to be counted. This personal appearance of the Jew before Moses, the tzadik (Jewish holy man), foreshadowed the ceremony of the giving of a kvitel by the Hasid to his Rebbe.
Once the practice of giving kvitelach was established in Hasidic courts, it was treated very seriously. There were cases where Hasidic Jews hired a non-Jew to ride or travel to the Rebbe on Shabbat
Shabbat
Shabbat is the seventh day of the Jewish week and a day of rest in Judaism. Shabbat is observed from a few minutes before sunset on Friday evening until a few minutes after when one would expect to be able to see three stars in the sky on Saturday night. The exact times, therefore, differ from...
(the Jewish Sabbath) to deliver a kvitel for a Jew who was ill, a clear violation of the Shabbat laws. Rabbi Sholom Mordechai Schwadron
Sholom Mordechai Schwadron
Rabbi Sholom Mordechai Schwadron was known by his acronym Maharsham. He was a foremost halachic authority and his main works "Shailos Uteshuvos Maharsham" and "Daas Torah" are widely studied sources of practical Jewish law.He also authored Techeiles Mordechai, a three-volume commentary of the...
(1835-1911) once responded to a questioner who asked whether a Jew could send a telegram on behalf of a sick person on Shabbat: "In my hometown of Zlatshev, there was a desperately sick person. When the Belzer Rebbe (the Rebbe of the Belz Hasidic dynasty
Belz (Hasidic dynasty)
Belz is a Hasidic dynasty named for the town of Belz in Western Ukraine, near the Polish border. The town has existed since at least the 10th century, with the Jewish community being established during the 14th century. The town became home to Hasidic Judaism in the early 19th century...
, Rabbi Sholom Rokeach) was in Brod for Shabbat, the local rabbi allowed the Jews to have a gentile write the name of the sick person and his mother's name and send this kvitel to Brod." This action was vehemently protested by Rabbi Shlomo Kluger
Shlomo Kluger
Solomon ben Judah Aaron Kluger , born at Komarow, Congress Poland, was chief dayyan and preacher of Brody, Galicia. He was successively Rabbi at Rawa , Kulikow , and Józefów , preacher at Brody, and Rabbi at Brezany and, again, at Brody...
as well as by the Belzer Rebbe, and the rabbi was removed from his post.
Writing the kvitel
In Hasidic courts, the kvitel is inscribed with the names of the petitioner and his family members, along with their specific requests. The form of the name is the person's full Hebrew name and his mother's Hebrew name (e.g. Shmuel ben Chana, "Shmuel the son of Chana"), even if the Rebbe already knows who he is. It is customary to write the kvitel on a blank, unlined piece of paper.Customs differ as to who writes the kvitel. In some courts, the Rebbe's attendant
Gabbai
A Gabbai is a person who assists in the running of a synagogue and ensures that the needs are met, for example the Jewish prayer services run smoothly, or an assistant to a rabbi...
writes the kvitel on behalf of the petitioner; in others, a specific person is paid to write the kvitelach. Alternately, the petitioner himself writes the kvitel.
Various customs arose around the writing of a kvitel. It is considered a bad omen if a kvitel falls on the ground, or if sand is placed on it. (Sand was commonly used as a drying agent for ink on paper.) Care is taken to write the kvitel without any mistakes, as Hasidic Jews believe that kvitelach contain deep secrets.
Giving the kvitel
The kvitel is either sent to the Rebbe by messenger or mail, or given personally by the Hasid during his private audience with the Rebbe. The kvitel is usually given together with a sum of money known as a pidyon (redemption), which is used by the Rebbe for the upkeep of his court or for distribution to charity. Some Rebbes requested from the Hasid a sum of money equal to twice the numerical valueGematria
Gematria or gimatria is a system of assigning numerical value to a word or phrase, in the belief that words or phrases with identical numerical values bear some relation to each other, or bear some relation to the number itself as it may apply to a person's age, the calendar year, or the like...
of the Hebrew word Chai
Chai (symbol)
Chai is a symbol and word that figures prominently in Jewish culture. It consists of the letters of the Hebrew alphabet Chet and Yod .The Hebrew word "living" is related to the term for "life", chaim; ḥayyim....
(life), which equals 18. Others took an amount of money equal to the numerical value of the letters of the Hebrew names of the Hasid or his wife.
Women are also welcome to visit a Rebbe and present their kvitelach to him. However, the Rebbe does not look at the woman directly while giving his blessing.
The giving of the first kvitel cements the status of a newly-appointed Hasidic Rebbe. In Belz tradition, the first kvitel to a new Rebbe is proffered by a follower of the Ropshitz Hasidic dynasty
Ropshitz (Hasidic dynasty)
Ropshitz is the name of a Hasidic dynasty, or rabbinical family and group who are descendants of Rabbi Naftali Zvi of Ropshitz . Ropshitz is the name of a town in southern Poland known in Polish as Ropczyce....
. Thus, when Rabbi Yissachar Dov Rokeach
Yissachar Dov Rokeach (I)
Yissachar Dov Rokeach , , was the third Rebbe of the Belz Hasidic dynasty. He was the second son of Rabbi Yehoshua Rokeach , and served as the third Belzer Rebbe from his father's death in 1894 until his own death in 1926.-Personal life:Yissachar Dov was born in the town of Belz, Poland...
assumed the mantle of leadership in 1894 after the death of his father, Rabbi Yehoshua Rokeach
Yehoshua Rokeach
Yehoshua Rokeach was the second rebbe of the Belz Hasidic dynasty. He combined Torah scholarship with practical common sense to guide thousands of Hasidim and to fight the Haskalah movement that was making inroads in Jewish communities in Poland during the nineteenth century...
, he was given his first kvitel by Rabbi Yissachar Dov of Bisk, a follower of the Ropshitz dynasty. Thirty-three years later, following the funeral of Rabbi Yissachar Dov Rokeach, Rokeach's son and successor, Rabbi Aharon Rokeach
Aharon Rokeach
Aharon Rokeach was the fourth Rebbe of the Belz Hasidic dynasty. He led the movement from 1926 until his death in 1957....
, received his first kvitelach from Rabbi Yissachar Dov of Bisk and two other followers of the Ropshitz dynasty.
The followers of the Ger Hasidic dynasty
Ger (Hasidic dynasty)
Ger, or Gur is a Hasidic dynasty originating from Ger, the Yiddish name of Góra Kalwaria, a small town in Poland....
have in their possession the Kotzer Kvitel, a long note written by an elderly Hasid who had attended the courts of Rabbi Yehudah Aryeh Leib Alter
Yehudah Aryeh Leib Alter
Yehudah Aryeh Leib Alter , also known by the title of his main work, the Sfas Emes, was a Hasidic rabbi who succeeded his grandfather, Rabbi Yitzchak Meir Alter, as the av beis din and Rav of Góra Kalwaria, Poland , and succeeded the Rebbe, Reb Heynekh of Alexander, as Rebbe of the Gerrer...
(the Sefas Emes), Rabbi Chanoch Henoch of Alexander
Chanokh Heynekh HaKohen Levin
Chanokh Heynekh HaKohen Levin of Aleksander served as the rebbe of a community of thousands of Hasidim during the "interregnum" between the Chidushei HaRim of Ger and the Sfas Emes.- Biography :...
, Rabbi Yitzchak Meir Alter
Yitzchak Meir Alter
Yitzchak Meir Alter , is considered to be the first Rebbe of the Ger Hasidic dynasty, which he founded in the town of Góra Kalwaria , Poland. He was also known as the Chidushei HaRim for his Torah books...
(the Chiddushei Harim) and Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Kotzk
Menachem Mendel of Kotzk
Menachem Mendel Morgensztern of Kotzk, better known as the Kotzker Rebbe was a Hasidic rabbi and leader.-Life:Born to a non-Hasidic family in Goraj near Lublin, Poland, he became attracted to Hasidim in his youth. He was known for having acquired impressive Talmudic and Kabbalistic knowledge at a...
. This Hasid presented the kvitel, containing his memories of these former Rebbes of the Ger dynasty, to Rabbi Avraham Mordechai Alter
Avraham Mordechai Alter
Avraham Mordechai Alter , also known as the Imrei Emes after the works he authored, was the third Rebbe of the Hasidic dynasty of Ger, a position he held from 1905 until his death in 1948. He was one of the founders of the Agudas Israel in Poland and was influential in establishing a network of...
(the Imrei Emes) upon the latter's appointment as Rebbe of the Ger dynasty.
Reading the kvitel
If the kvitel is delivered by mail or messenger, the Rebbe's attendant reads it to the Rebbe. If the Hasid is present, the Rebbe reads the kvitel during their audience. Afterwards, the Rebbe blesses the petitioner.Rebbes traditionally devote their utmost attention to reading kvitelach. It was said of the Bohusher
Bohush (Hasidic dynasty)
The Bohush Hasidic dynasty is one of the five dynasties deriving from the Ruzhin dynasty.It was founded by Rebbe Yitzchok Friedman who was the grandson of Reb Yisroel Friedman, the rebbe of the Ruzhin dynasty. Yitzchok Friedman became the leader of the Ruzhin dynasty after the death of his father...
Rebbe, Rabbi Yitzchok Friedman, that when he read a kvitel, he put his whole being into the piece of paper before bestowing his blessing. The Satmar
Satmar (Hasidic dynasty)
Satmar is a Hasidic movement comprising mostly Hungarian and Romanian Hasidic Jewish Holocaust survivors and their descendants. It was founded and led by the late Hungarian-born Grand Rebbe Yoel Teitelbaum , who was the rabbi of Szatmárnémeti, Hungary...
Rebbe, Rabbi Yoel Teitelbaum, was known to scrutinize each kvitel and point out errors in the writing of names of people he had never met.
Stories are told about Rebbes who were able to read into a kvitel the situations of those who were named in it. Once a bride-to-be and her mother visited the Bohusher Rebbe, Rabbi Yitzchok Friedman, for a blessing. The Rebbe's attendant wrote the kvitel hastily, noting next to the mother's name that she was about to marry. The Rebbe glanced at the kvitel and said, "She is already married."
When Rabbi Aharon Rokeach, the Belzer Rebbe, was hiding from the Nazis
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
in the Kraków Ghetto
Kraków Ghetto
The Kraków Ghetto was one of five major, metropolitan Jewish ghettos created by Nazi Germany in the General Government territory for the purpose of persecution, terror, and exploitation of Polish Jews during the German occupation of Poland in World War II...
in 1942, he accepted a kvitel from one of the men who was assigned to protect him. As the names of the man's children were read aloud, the Rebbe continually stopped the reader when he reached a certain child's name and asked him to begin reading the kvitel again. This happened several times. Later the man learned that this son had died suddenly during the war, but the rest of his family survived.
It was said of "great Rebbes" that in their presence, petitioners would be struck with awe and would accidentally hand over a blank piece of paper instead of the kvitel. The Rebbe would read the blank page and understand exactly what the person wanted.
In the court of Vizhnitz
Vizhnitz (Hasidic dynasty)
Vizhnitz is the name of a Hasidic dynasty founded by Rebbe Menachem Mendel Hager. Vizhnitz is the Yiddish name of Vyzhnytsia, a village in present-day Ukraine.Followers of the rebbes of Vizhnitz are called Vizhnitzer chasidim....
, it was known that if the Rebbe asked for a cigarette to smoke in the middle of reading a kvitel, it was a sign that the petitioner's request had been accepted. Rabbi Eliezer Dovid Friedman, a follower of the fourth Vizhnitzer Rebbe, Rabbi Chaim Meir Hager, witnessed this in 1965 when he delivered a kvitel to the Rebbe on behalf of a Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
Jew stricken with cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
and the Rebbe asked for a cigarette while reading the kvitel. The man recovered completely. However, in 1972, immediately after the death of the Rebbe, the Melbourne Jew fell ill with the same disease and succumbed to it.
At a grave
It is a common practice for Hasidic Jews to place kvitelach on the gravesite of a Rebbe or tzadik with the belief that the soul of the deceased will pray for them in Heaven. The visitor usually sits beside the grave to write his kvitel and meditate on his request, and then tears the kvitel and throws it on top of the grave. Many graves of Jewish holy men are constructed with special apertures for the insertion of kvitelach.At the Western Wall
The kvitelach placed in the Western Wall differ from the kvitelach given in Hasidic courts, as they contain prayers, requests or messages written directly to God. These prayer notes are folded and wedged into the cracks and crevices of the Wall. The rationale for this practice has been traced to the MidrashMidrash
The Hebrew term Midrash is a homiletic method of biblical exegesis. The term also refers to the whole compilation of homiletic teachings on the Bible....
ic teaching that the Divine Presence has never moved from the Western Wall, and the Kabbalistic
Kabbalah
Kabbalah/Kabala is a discipline and school of thought concerned with the esoteric aspect of Rabbinic Judaism. It was systematized in 11th-13th century Hachmei Provence and Spain, and again after the Expulsion from Spain, in 16th century Ottoman Palestine...
teaching that all prayers ascend to Heaven through the Temple Mount
Temple Mount
The Temple Mount, known in Hebrew as , and in Arabic as the Haram Ash-Sharif , is one of the most important religious sites in the Old City of Jerusalem. It has been used as a religious site for thousands of years...
, which the Western Wall abuts. More than a million prayer notes are placed in the Western Wall each year.
Christian pilgrimage
Christian pilgrimage was first made to sites connected with the ministry of Jesus. Surviving descriptions of Christian pilgrimages to the Holy Land and Jerusalem date from the 4th century, when pilgrimage was encouraged by church fathers like Saint Jerome and established by Helena, the mother of...
and people of other faiths. Foreign dignitaries who have publicly placed a kvitel in the Western Wall include Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II
Blessed Pope John Paul II , born Karol Józef Wojtyła , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church and Sovereign of Vatican City from 16 October 1978 until his death on 2 April 2005, at of age. His was the second-longest documented pontificate, which lasted ; only Pope Pius IX ...
in 2000, U.S. Senator
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton is the 67th United States Secretary of State, serving in the administration of President Barack Obama. She was a United States Senator for New York from 2001 to 2009. As the wife of the 42nd President of the United States, Bill Clinton, she was the First Lady of the...
in 2005, Pope Benedict XVI
Pope Benedict XVI
Benedict XVI is the 265th and current Pope, by virtue of his office of Bishop of Rome, the Sovereign of the Vatican City State and the leader of the Catholic Church as well as the other 22 sui iuris Eastern Catholic Churches in full communion with the Holy See...
in 2008, and U.S. presidential candidate
United States presidential election, 2008
The United States presidential election of 2008 was the 56th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on November 4, 2008. Democrat Barack Obama, then the junior United States Senator from Illinois, defeated Republican John McCain, the senior U.S. Senator from Arizona. Obama received 365...
Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
in 2008.
Based on the 11th century French rabbi Rabbeinu Gershom
Gershom ben Judah
Gershom ben Judah, best known as Rabbeinu Gershom and also commonly known to scholars of Judaism by the title Rabbeinu Gershom Me'Or Hagolah , was a famous Talmudist and Halakhist.Rashi of Troyes Gershom ben Judah, (c. 960 -1040? -1028?) best known as Rabbeinu Gershom (Hebrew: רבנו גרשום, "Our...
's ban
Cherem
Cherem , is the highest ecclesiastical censure in the Jewish community. It is the total exclusion of a person from the Jewish community. It is a form of shunning, and is similar to excommunication in the Catholic Church...
against reading another person's mail, Jewish law forbids the reading of notes that have been inserted in the Western Wall.
Disposal of kvitelach
Kvitelach may not be thrown away; there is a difference of opinion as to whether they should be burned or buried. According to Rabbi Shmuel Rabinovitch, Rabbi of the Western Wall and author of Minhagei HaKotel, a book of lawsHalakha
Halakha — also transliterated Halocho , or Halacha — is the collective body of Jewish law, including biblical law and later talmudic and rabbinic law, as well as customs and traditions.Judaism classically draws no distinction in its laws between religious and ostensibly non-religious life; Jewish...
regarding the Western Wall, burning is a "pure" way to deal with the notes, but burying them is more honorable. Twice a year, Rabbi Rabinovitch and his assistants collect the hundreds of thousands of kvitelach left in the Wall and bury them in the Jewish cemetery on the Mount of Olives
Mount of Olives
The Mount of Olives is a mountain ridge in East Jerusalem with three peaks running from north to south. The highest, at-Tur, rises to 818 meters . It is named for the olive groves that once covered its slopes...
.
Kvitelach left at gravesites are traditionally burned. The gravesite
Ohel (Chabad)
The Ohel is the name of a religious shrine in Queens, New York, to which thousands of people make a pilgrimage each year. The last Lubavitcher Rebbe, Menachem Mendel Schneerson and his father-in-law Rabbi Yosef Yitzchok Schneersohn are interred there...
of the sixth and seventh Lubavitcher
Chabad
Chabad or Chabad-Lubavitch is a major branch of Hasidic Judaism.Chabad may also refer to:*Chabad-Strashelye, a defunct branch of the Chabad school of Hasidic Judaism*Chabad-Kapust or Kapust, a defunct branch of the Chabad school of Hasidic Judaism...
Rebbes, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn and Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson
Menachem Mendel Schneerson
Menachem Mendel Schneerson , known as the Lubavitcher Rebbe or just the Rebbe among his followers, was a prominent Hasidic rabbi who was the seventh and last Rebbe of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement. He was fifth in a direct paternal line to the third Chabad-Lubavitch Rebbe, Menachem Mendel...
, includes a fax
Fax
Fax , sometimes called telecopying, is the telephonic transmission of scanned printed material , normally to a telephone number connected to a printer or other output device...
machine which receives over 700 faxes a day, and a computer which receives 400 emails daily. These kvitelach are all printed and then taken to the graves, where they are torn into shreds and placed atop the graves. When the pile grows too high, the shredded notes are burned.
Electronic kvitelach
In today's electronic age, many online services offer petitioners the chance to send their kvitel to the Western Wall via email, fax, text messagingText messaging
Text messaging, or texting, refers to the exchange of brief written text messages between fixed-line phone or mobile phone and fixed or portable devices over a network...
and Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
; the kvitel is then printed out and inserted in the cracks of the Wall. The "Send a Kvitel Service" of kevarim.com receives kvitelach via Internet and then dispatches them to the gravesites of tzadikim in North America with people who travel to these gravesites. The Nikolsburger Rebbe himself accepts kvitelach and pidyonos via Internet.
Sending kvitelach to the grave of a Rebbe or tzadik has also become a fund-raising tool. Mosdos Kever Rachel (Kever Rachel Foundation) encourages donors to send messages and prayers which will be read out at Rachel's Tomb
Rachel's Tomb
Rachel's Tomb , also known as the Dome of Rachel, , is an ancient structure believed to be the burial place of the biblical matriarch Rachel. It is located on the outskirts of Bethlehem, a Palestinian city just south of Jerusalem, in the West Bank...
. Similarly, the Breslov Research Institute
Breslov Research Institute
Breslov Research Institute is a pioneering publisher of classic and contemporary Breslov texts in English. Established in 1979, BRI has produced the first English translation of all the works of Rebbe Nachman of Breslov and selected works of Reb Noson , the Rebbe's closest disciple; studies of the...
website offers donors the opportunity to send a "digital kvitel" to be read by the grave of Rebbe Nachman of Breslov
Nachman of Breslov
Nachman of Breslov , also known as Reb Nachman of Bratslav, Reb Nachman Breslover , Nachman from Uman , was the founder of the Breslov Hasidic movement....
in Uman, Ukraine.