Bender was appointed prayer leader for the annual Breslover Rosh Hashana kibbutz—an honor reserved for the most respected and devout members of the community—when he was only 30 years old.

Bender and Rosen appealed to organizations both inside and outside Russia, including the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, for food and assistance on behalf of Ukrainian Jews.

Facing a possible death sentence, they were reprieved with the help of a Jewish official at the ministry of justice in Kiev, Ukraine who was sympathetic to Breslover Hasidim.

To avoid being recognized in the Breslover minyan (now being held in a private apartment), Bender went to the house of a friend shortly before the holiday began and asked for permission to pray in the man's basement.

As soon as the holiday was over, several Hasidim helped Bender escape the city by bandaging his entire head, leaving only his eyes uncovered, and accompanying him on a night train to Kiev.

She debarked at a small village called Khrystynivka (Charsinvaka), located two stations away from Uman, purchased two tickets for Kiev, and reboarded the train.

But the informer, who was on the same train following Mrs. Bender, spotted Reb Levi Yitzchok without his disguise in the station and called over a policeman.

In accordance with Rebbe Nachman's teachings, Bender kept a rigorous personal study schedule and completed many key Jewish texts each year, finishing the entire Talmud and Zohar numerous times.

He also practiced hitbodedut, the unique Breslov form of meditation, and recited tikkun chatzot (the midnight lament) over the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem, every night for 75 years.