Levi Yitzchak Schneerson

Levi Yitzchak Schneerson (1878–1944) was a Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic rabbi in Yekatrinoslav, Ukraine. He was the father of the seventh and Chabad-Lubavitch Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson.

Rabbi Levi Yitzchak Schneerson
BornApril 21, 1878
Podrovnah, Russia
DiedAugust 9, 1944(1944-08-09) (aged 66)
Almaty, Kazakh SSR, USSR
OccupationChief Rabbi of Yekatrinoslav, Russia
Known forLikkutei Levi Yitzchak on Kabbalah and Chabad philosophy
Spouse(s)Chana Schneerson
Children
Chabad synagogue in Almaty, depicted on a Kazakh stamp

Early life

Rabbi Levi Yitzchak was born on the 18th day of Nissan, 5638 (1878) in the town of Podrovnah (near Gomel) to Rabbi Baruch Schneur and Zelda Rachel Schneerson. His great-great-grandfather was the third Chabad Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneersohn of Lubavitch.

In 1900, Levi Yitzchak married Chana Yanovsky, whose father, Rabbi Meir Shlomo Yanovsky, was the Rabbi of the Ukrainian city of Nikolaiev. In 1902, their eldest son, Menachem Mendel was born. He was later to become the Rebbe of Lubavitch.

Chief rabbi of Yekatrinoslav and Soviet persecution

Schneerson lived in Nikolaiev until 1909, when he was appointed to serve as the Rabbi of Yekaterinoslav.[1]

In 1939 he was arrested by the communist regime for his fearless stance against the Party's efforts to eradicate Jewish learning and practice in the Soviet Union, and particularly for distributing Matzah to the Jews of Dnepropetrovsk (formerly Yekaterinoslav).[2] After more than a year of torture and interrogations in Stalin's prisons, he was sentenced to exile to a remote village Chiali in Kazakhstan. Shortly before he died, Levi Yitzchak was able to move to Almaty, where he was warmly welcomed by the small Lubavitcher community.

Death

On August 9, 1944 he died in Almaty.[3] Schneerson was buried at a cemetery in Almaty.[4] A Chabad Lubavitch synagogue named in his honor has been built near his gravesite. On August 10, 2020, his burial space was declared a Kazakh National Heritage site in cooperation with the U.S. Commission for the Preservation of America's Heritage Abroad.[5][6]

Legacy

Schneerson was a distinguished Kabbalist. Some of his writings have been published in a five volume set under the name Likkutei Levi Yitschok. Most of it, however, was burned or confiscated by the Soviet authorities, and has yet to be returned to the Chabad movement.

After the fall of the Soviet Union, in 1991, the KGB admitted that Schneerson was framed.[7][8]

In December 1999 the then President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev gave the complete KGB files on Schneerson to Lubavitch leaders in New York City.[9]

Further reading
  • Gottlieb, Naftali Tzvi. Trans. Lesches, Elchonon. "Rabbi, Mystic and Leader - the Life and Times of Rabbi Levi Yitzchak Schneerson" (Kehot Publication Society; 2008) 253 pages
  • Schneerson, Chana. Trans. Tilles, Yerachmiel. "A Mother in Israel - the Life and Memoirs of Rebbetzin Chana Schneerson" (Kehot Publication Society; 1985, 2003) 226 pages

References
  1. Miller, Chaim. Turning Judaism Outward. p. 9. So, in 1909, Reb Levik, his wife Chana and their three sons relocated to Yekaterinoslav, where Levik would commence what would be a perpetual struggle as the city’s Rabbi.
  2. "Is matzah the key to Soviet Jews survival". Jweekly. 11 April 1997. Retrieved 10 August 2020.
  3. "Rabbi Levi Yitzchak Schneerson (1878–1944) The life and legacy of the Rebbe’s father" chabad.org.
  4. Himmelman, Khaya (1 June 2020). "Post-Soviet immigration strengthens Kazakhstan's Jewish community". eurasianet. Retrieved 10 August 2020.
  5. Lipshiz, Cnaan (10 August 2020). "Kazakhstan adds Chabad leader's grave to its list of national heritage sites". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Retrieved 11 August 2020.
  6. "Rabbi Levi Yitzchak Schneerson's Grave Declared Heritage Site". Chabad.org. 10 August 2020. Retrieved 10 August 2020.
  7. Cooperman, Alan (9 August 1991). "Jewish Leader Vindicated 47 Years After His Death in the Gulag". Associated Press. Retrieved 10 August 2020.
  8. Margolin, Dovid. "The KGB's Belated Apology for the Persecution and Death of the Rebbe's Father". Chabad.org. Retrieved 10 August 2020.
  9. Mosconi, Angela (20 December 1999). "KGB FILES ON RABBI GIVEN TO BROOKLYN JEWS". NY Post. Retrieved 10 August 2020.


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