 In 1852, he was one of the delegates from Wilna to petition the czar Nicholas I in regard to the oppressive conscription duties of the Jews by the ukases of January 8, 1852  and of August 16, 1852.Barit was a man of great tact and political wisdom, a pleasant and impressive speaker and conversationalist.In 1855, when a project was laid before the government to appoint chief rabbis in the capitals of the various governments of Russia, Vladimir Ivanovich Nazimov, then governor-general of Vilna, recommended Barit to be chief rabbi of the government of Vilna.