Watch: The Self-Sacrifice of Traveling to Uman in the Past

At the moving meeting of the elders of Shuvu Banim at the holy residence of our teacher, the Gaon HaTzaddik Rav Eliezer Berland shlit"a, in honor of the holy yahrtzeit of the elder of the Breslov Chassidut of the previous generation and transmitter of the tradition, R' Levi Yitzchak Bender zt"l, our teacher Rav Berland spoke about the self-sacrifice they undertook during the trips to Uman during the Soviet regime.

These are his holy words:

"After R' Levi Yitzchak Bender zt"l was in prison in Soviet Russia for half a year, from Parshat Vayera until Zachor Brit, he was released on Zachor Brit on a Thursday night. The Soviet investigator Kopinov told him—the chief investigator in Uman was called Kopinov..."

Our teacher, the Gaon HaTzaddik Rav Eliezer Berland shlit"a, begins to tell of the arrest of R' Levi Yitzchak Bender zt"l, before he begins the story of the interrogations and the self-sacrifice he endured during the days of the breakthrough to Uman in the Communist era.

And our teacher Rav Berland shlit"a continues, "I was detained there with Gavriel Grossman and Nachman Berland; we were detained in prison at that time. Just as R' Levi Yitzchak was detained, we were also detained."

Rabbi Gavriel Grossman adds: "After that, we went up to the second floor."

Our teacher Rav Berland: "Correct."

Rabbi Gavriel: "I told you that there is no one here, so let's go home."

Our teacher Rav Berland: "Yes, you went to check, you saw that the gate was open."

Rabbi Gavriel: "I told Rav Berland that the investigator is a Jew, that tall one."

Rav Berland: "Yes, he was truly a Jew. They left us in the courtyard after they finished interrogating us, because our visa said Kremenchuk. I said that they should write as many cities as possible on the visa; I told him there that I wanted to visit all the cities."

"We told the investigator, we asked to reach Kremenchuk, not Uman; the driver made a mistake."

"The driver said in English, 'I cannot get there, you ordered to come here.' The driver said, 'I cannot get to Kremenchuk, I will take you to Uman and from there I will find you a vehicle to Kremenchuk, I can only reach Uman.'"

"This is the driver we found in Kiev, he said, 'Okay, it's a detour already.' We said, 'It doesn't matter, the main thing is that we move forward and get out of Kiev'—so we arrived in Uman."

"They stopped for us at the taxi station and we looked for a taxi to Kremenchuk; there was something to talk about, because Kremenchuk was written on the visa. I told them, 'We are on the way to Kremenchuk.' The driver said, 'But that is not our destination, we arrived in Uman by mistake.' Just like people arrive in Shechem by mistake, they got confused on the way."

Rabbi Grossman: "After that we were there by Rabinowitz."

Our teacher Rav Berland: "Yes, to Rabinowitz, we arrived there 20 hours from Moscow, we traveled 20 hours from the Kremlin. I went with Gavriel, we caught a taxi at the Kremlin."

Our teacher Rav Berland continues and explains the magnitude of the danger that existed in the travels back then, and how the Russian government still remembers the actions of the past and takes revenge, even though decades have passed:

"There was someone, not from Breslov, who happened to travel before R' Levi Yitzchak (to Russia) and they opened his file. He received 7 years in prison. He was with Israeli passports, so they opened the file he had 50 years ago."