Remembering Rabbi Levi Yitzchak Horowitz zt”l

Bostoner Rebbe of Boston and Har Nof

By Rabbi Yaakov Horowitz

Last Monday, the 18th of Teves, marked the Shloshim of my great uncle, Rabbi Levi Yitzchak Horowitz, the Bostoner Rebbe of Boston and Har Nof.

Our sages tell us it is appropriate to mark the passing of a Torah leader by focusing on his life and deeds, leading us to religious and moral introspection. To do justice to the memory of Rav Levi Yitzchak’s legacy and contribution, one must understand the essence of his Chassidic tradition.

Boston Chassidus has made its mark on American traditional Judaism.

It began in 1915 when Rabbi Pinchas Dovid Horowitz emigrated from Israel and took the unusual step of creating a Chassidic title connected to the American city where he made his home: Boston. Rav Pinchas was a well-known defender of Yiddishkeit throughout New England where he strengthened Jewish life with his prodigious talents and energy. He took the principles of Bostoner Chassidus with him when he moved his Kehilla (congregation) and household to Williamsburg, Brooklyn in 1939 and bequeathed it to his children upon his passing in 1941. Rav Moshe, his eldest son, assumed his father’s mantle of leadership in becoming Bostoner Rebbe. He applied the philosophy of Bostoner Chassidus in many of the pivotal roles he played in the rebuilding of European Jewry on American soil.

With great courage, newly married at the age of 22, Rav Levi Yitzchak returned to Boston in 1944, becoming the first American-born Chassidic leader. He reestablished the Chassidic kehilla in the city of his birth. His achievements in kiruv (outreach), chessed (kindness) and hachnosas orchim (hospitality) became known as a beacon of light and hope for Jews throughout the world. He was one of those rare individuals who touched the heart and soul of thousands of Jews and who affected a positive change in the religious Jewish life of our day.

The core of Boston Chassidic philosophy is perhaps best put by the great tzaddik Rav Chaim of Volozhin when he told his children, “We have not come to this world for ourselves.”  Rav Levi Yitzchak zt”l became known, perhaps above all else, for his selfless love and dedication, in word and deed, for every Jew. This genuine sentiment impressed and inspired all those who had the fortune to meet him. This cornerstone of Chassidus is perhaps a sentiment that Klal Yisroel is most in need of at this difficult time in our history.

Rav Levi Yitzchak of Berdichev, the iconic Tzaddik after whom the Rebbe was named, said, “...He who does not have the ability to always see the children of Israel in a positive light; and who does not always have the praise of Jews on his lips; and does not portray how beautiful they are in our Creator’s eyes; and is not ready to defend their actions — know with certainty such a person can never enter the service of His Maker.”

May the memory of Rav Levi Yitzchak, the Bostoner Rebbe, be an inspiration to us all.

Rabbi Yaakov Horowitz is Mora D’Asra of the Bostoner Bais Medrash of Lawrence and founder of American Jewish Legacy (www.ajlegacy.org).