Ohel of Tzadik David Biderman, Lelów

At ul. Ogrodowa 7 in Lelów stands the ohel of David Biderman – the tomb of the tzadik who gave his name to the Lelov Hasidic dynasty. Every year, around the turn of January and February, Hasidim from Israel and the USA come here to pray at the grave on the anniversary of their master's death. The modest building hides a story that sounds like a film script.

Who was the tzadik of Lelów

David Biderman, known as the Lelover, was born in Lelów in 1746 and died here on 28 January 1814. He started out as a Kabbalist and was drawn to Hasidism by Elimelech of Leżajsk. He studied under Jacob Isaac Horowitz, the Seer of Lublin, and was regarded as his most outstanding pupil. He was one of the best-known tzadikim of his time in the Polish lands. His son Moshe moved the seat of the dynasty to Jerusalem.

A grave found beneath a shop

The first ohel was built right after the tzadik's death and survived unchanged until 1956. Then the authorities levelled it, and a co-operative store pavilion was built on the old Jewish cemetery. In August 1988, on the initiative of Shimon Anshin from Israel, the Nissenbaum Family Foundation began searching. The remains were found under the storeroom of one of the shops, and tests in Jerusalem confirmed they were Biderman's. By February 1989 a modest ohel had been set up in a partitioned room. After the shop was demolished in 2012–2013, a new tomb was built and the site tidied.

What you will see

Inside hangs a marble plaque with a Hebrew inscription giving the burial date as 7 Shevat 5574 (1814). On the grave you will see pebbles left as a sign of remembrance and kvitlech – slips of paper with prayers and requests. Before the Second World War Lelów had two Jewish cemeteries; both were destroyed, and the ohel is now the most important trace of that community.

Tripto tips

Lelów is a village in Częstochowa County, seat of the Lelów municipality and a former royal town. A visit to the tomb takes about fifteen minutes. Remember that this is a place of prayer: keep quiet, and on the yahrzeit around late January or early February expect crowds of pilgrims. Combine your visit with the market square and the reservoir on the Białka river, and if you come in August, check the date of the Cholent Festival (Święto Ciulimu i Czulentu), which celebrates Lelów's Polish-Jewish past.