Rav Elimelech Biderman, shlita, for some reason, belongs to all of Klal Yisroel. One can be down and depressed, and it is Rav Biderman that cheers up all of Klal Yisroel. One may think that he belongs exclusively to Eida Chareidis type families, but it is not true.

All gain inspiration from him. It is not just his remarkably inspiring divrei Torah, at which everyone marvels. How is it that week after week, he can pinpoint and explain the exact dvar Torah or inspiration that we need?

His audience is everyone. Teaneck mothers. Kushner teachers. Frisch students. Golda Och board members. Chassidish men and misnagdishe avreichim.

Who is he, and where does he come from?

Rabbi Biderman was born in Israel to Rabbi Alter Elazar Menachem Biderman, the rebbe of Malalev (Bnei Brak), the son of Rabbi Moshe Mordechai Biderman.

He is named after Rabbi Avraham Elimelech Perlow, the rebbe of Karlin-Stolin Hasidism. He has brothers who serve as rebbes of “Laalov United States” and “Laalov Boro Park.”

Rabbi Elimelech studied in the Yeshiva of Ponovech, both in its younger division as well as the yeshiva for older students. He is married to the daughter of Rabbi Natan David Rosenbaum, the rebbe of Mazotshka, who lives in Bnei Brak.

He took no homiletic classes in Yeshiva University, and yet his Torah is captivating and is perfection incarnate:

On Parshas Re’eh he says that Rebbe Avraham Yaakov of Sadigura, zt”l taught: Re’eh is roshei teivos, an abbreviation, of rosh Elul hayom, today is the start of Elul, the month to prepare for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.

He continues, the Arizal writes, “On these days, Hakadosh Baruch Hu becomes a friend … to the person who does teshuva.” As it states, “I am to my Friend and my Friend is to me,” and the roshei teivos spell Elul.

“How precious is Your friendship to me, Hashem!” Rabbi Biderman calls out in his quick-paced, lovable Yiddisha shprach (speech). The Panim Yafos explains, “This refers to Elul, which the Arizal calls ‘days of friendship.’ This month atones for the sins of the entire year. Hashem is so kind, for He considers each hour of the 12 hours of Elul to be like a day…” So 12×30 days of Elul=360, indicating that Elul atones for the sins of the entire year.

Revealing his combination of Chassidus and Lithuanian style learning, he cites the Vilna Gaon (1:4) that Rosh Chodesh Elul, Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are the three most painful days for the yetzer hara (evil inclination), because people do teshuva on these days.

Now, in the blink of an eye, he reverts back to Chassidus, the Kedushas Levi writes, “On Rosh Chodesh Elul, Hashem reveals to the Jewish people that He is God and that He leads the world.”

And there is so much content. Quickly, he returns to Litvish Torah, “One of the primary ways to prepare for Rosh Hashanah is to be immersed in Torah study. Reb Chaim Kreiswirth, zt”l said that a segula (merit) for hasmadah (diligence) is to learn. The explanation of this pithy remark is that when one learns he becomes interested. The more one learns, the more passionately he will love the Torah. So if he studies for one minute, it will likely become two, five minutes turns into 10, because he becomes interested and inspired, and he wants to study more.”

And then, a lovable and inspiring story: A young man bought a pair of shoes for $200, but they were uncomfortable. He complained to the store owner that the shoes hurt. The store owner explained, “It takes a couple of weeks before the shoes break in and become comfortable.” So the consumer put the shoes into his closet and waited two weeks, but when he put them on again, they still hurt. He returned to the shoe store once more, complaining that the shoes weren’t good. The store owner explained, “The shoes become comfortable if you wear them for two weeks. If you leave them in the closet, they will remain uncomfortable.”

All beginnings are difficult.

When a person starts out on the path of studying Torah it is hard, because he isn’t accustomed to the discipline of studying Torah. However, if one studies Torah every day, he will love the Torah, and it will become easy and a pleasure to study. But that will only happen if you learn Torah every day. It will not happen if you only study once every two weeks.

In the early 2000s, he began holding a “zitz” at his home on Shabbos nights, with the participation of Hasidic men, mainly from the Slabodka yeshiva. Later, he began giving a lesson every Friday night to Hasidic boys, mainly from the Mir Yeshiva at the home of his wife’s grandfather, Rabbi Shlomo Mazvihel, in the Beis Yisrael neighborhood.

By 2010, he became internationally famous, and was invited to deliver sermons in synagogues and meetings, especially in preparation for the Israeli holidays. He gave lessons at his home and broadcasts abroad. Over time, a circle of students and admirers formed around him, most of them young priests. He used to sit among his students in the cities of Elad, Beit Shemesh, Modi’in Illit and Bitar Illit and Ashdod at least once a year and partook in “Sabbath Association” in Moshav Miron.

In his lessons and sermons, he deals a lot with matters of faith and trust in the Creator of the world, as he combines his messages with the stories of the righteous and providence stories of our time. Many of his lessons are delivered via audio and video transmission on Kol Halashon.

There is something so endearing about his quick-paced lovable Yiddishe shprach. He has an undeniable charm that makes its way through the airwaves and the electric impulses of the internet.

A rabbi once said that we often do not realize the value of the special princes that walk as malachim among men. Did I say malachim? What is also so remarkable and unique is that they represent Everyman; Malach and Everyman wrapped in one. He is a modern day Berditchever Rav.

At a children’s wedding, he held a Shabbos in Miron with a thousand of his students participating. Every year, on the second day of Kislev, on the yahrzeit of Rabbi Avraham Dov of Avritish, the author of the sefer Bat Ein, Rabbi Biderman travels with his students to his grave in Safed and to the Rashbi’s grave in Miron. The event is attended by thousands of Hasidic boys and men.

On Lag B’Omer 2015, about 20,000 people participated in the lighting of his bonfire, which was held in Ramat Beit Shemesh Bais.

His talks were printed by his students with the title, Be’er Chaim, The Well of Life. They are on the Pesach Haggadah, Elul and the 10 Day of Repentance, Purim, Counting the Omer, Chanukah, Shabbos Zemiros and quite a few more.

Women; men; children; teenage boys—all adore and love him. Yasher koach for all he does.

The author can be reached at [email protected]