In the wake of communal strife there, he was forced to leave his post and settled in Mezhbizh, the home of the Baal Shem Tov and the cradle of Hasidism, where he devoted himself completely to the study and dissemination of Chasidism.

[citation needed] It was during this period in his life, in Mezhbizh, that he gained the veneration of thousands of followers, among whom were a number of the prominent rabbis of the age.

His outstanding character trait was his strongly expressed love of the Jewish people, which earned him the title of Oheiv Yisrael, "Lover of Israel".

On his deathbed, crying bitterly over the long exile, he said: "Before his demise, Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berdichev promised that upon entering the World-to-Come he would not rest or sit until Mashiach would come.

According to one Hasidic legend, angels subsequently carried his body and buried him in the Holy Land, and in the Jewish Cemetery in Tiberias there is a stone marking his supposed grave.