Seven Facts And Figures About Reb Levik
Presented in honor of 75 years since the Histalkus
Presented in honor of 75 years since the Histalkus
In a rare interview, Rabbi Sholom Mendel Simpson, the Rebbe’s secretary, told Beis Moshiach among other things about his work in the Rebbe’s letter-archive and about publishing them in the Igros Kodesh
Life is synonymous with movement. Death is when this movement comes to a halt.
There was a long feud in a community I’m associated with, and one morning, I woke up with the news that the almost decade-old dispute was peacefully and respectfully settled.
Marriage is indeed a mystery. It is the oldest institution ever practiced by mankind and the thousands of years it has been in practice have given us little to no experience in how to conduct our own marital lives.
I remember when my parents, of blessed memory, once joined us up in Plainville, New York for a visit, we wanted to show them something very pretty – but it was a twenty-minute walk uphill. All of the family’s generations were there – my husband and myself, our children and grandchildren who were much younger in those days, and my parents.
That was the question a group of wealthy Jewish donors asked 25-year-old shliach, Rabbi Mottel Kanelsky at a parlor meeting to benefit Bris Avrohom’s Gala
A central theme in Parshas Vaeschanan is the commandment of Achdus Hashem — the absolute oneness of G-d. The primary sources on this essential topic, in-fact, one of the principles of the Jewish faith, are included within the parsha. First, there is the famous passuk of “You shall know this day and consider it in your heart, that Hashem, He is G-d, in the heavens above, and upon the earth below; there is none else.” Then, there is the even more famous pasuk of Shema Yisrael, declaring that “Hashem is our G-d, Hashem is One.”
The inevitability principle in politics is the fallacy that once democracy takes hold in an area, it will continue to flourish and spread. Democracies do not go backwards, or so the theory goes. Once people have tasted freedom, and have the education and resources to enjoy it, they will never want to go backwards. They will never slide back into authoritarianism or totalitarianism. No matter how dire things get, they will always work out somehow.
It is difficult to write in the past tense about a mashpia who had such a profound influence on so many and was very much in the prime of his life. Although there is so much more to tell about this model Chassid, in terms of his life story and testimonials from family and students, due to space constraints we can only offer brief sketches of his life and his impact.
The Rebbe was organized not just in his daily schedule, but as the Rebbe once commented he had a program for the next ten years. Normally, people who are into organization are not as creative and innovative as those who are more spontaneous.
Rabbi Levi Yitzchok was born on 18 Nissan in Russia in 1878. At a young age, he displayed unusual talents in Torah study. When he grew up, he married Rebbetzin Chana, the daughter of the Chassid Rabbi Meir Shlomo Yanovsky, rav of the city Nikolaev in the Ukraine.