4 February 1858 – 20 Shevat 5618
Dr. Hayim David Bernard of Piotrkow passed away. A medical student from an assimilated Jewish family in Poland, he worked as a military doctor in the Prussian army and treated Wilhelm II and the Prussian royal family. After a successful career as a professor of medicine at the university of Warsaw, he returned to Judaism and became involved in the Hassidic movement. There are many stories of his repentance and how he joined the circle of the righteous Rabbi David of Lelov, his close friend. Dr. Bernard also treated Yaakov Yitzchak Rabinowicz (the Holy Jew of Peshischa), Rabbi Yisrael Hopstein (the Maggid of Kozhnitz), Rabbi Yaakov Yitzchak Horowitz (the Seer of Lublin) and Rabbi Efraim Fischel of Strikov.