An amazing Jew lived in Yekaterinoslav and his name was Rabbi Levi Yitzchok Schneersohn zt”l. A Gaon, Chassid and Mekubal. He had many practices that were rooted in Chassidus and Kabbala. On top of that, his conduct was wondrous, lofty, and filled with chayus and enthusiasm. To mark his passing on Chaf Av, we present this compilation of the cycle of the year. We were helped by the various times that the Rebbe referred to his father’s customs, the memoirs of Rebbetzin Chana a”h, and testimony from Chassidim. * A sampling of customs, practices and personal conduct, on Shabbos and holidays.
Presented by Mendy Goldman
ROSH HASHANA
When he was in Nikolayev (until 5669), he was part of the household of his father-in-law, R’ Meir Shlomo Yanovsky. On Rosh HaShana, R’ Levi Yitzchok went to Tashlich to a well (as the Alter Rebbe says in his siddur that a well is also fine for Tashlich). The Rebbe said this in response to a question regarding his father’s custom.
YOM KIPPUR
When the government closed the mikva in Yekaterinoslav, they began immersing in the Dnieper River. One year, on Erev Yom Kippur it was freezing. R’ Levi Yitzchok went to the river to immerse as is the custom. He immersed a number of times in the river and after each immersion he got out, got dressed, then went back to immerse, in order to fulfill the custom of immersing three times on Erev Yom Kippur.
On Motzaei Yom Kippur, R’ Levi Yitzchok would sit down to farbreng while wearing the garments of the Tzemach Tzedek, and he spoke, as was his custom, on topics of Kabbala and Chassidus.
SIMCHAS TORAH
Farbrengens, joy and chayus, accompanied R’ Levik during Z’man Simchaseinu (Sukkos) and Simchas Torah. During the hakafos that took place in Yekaterinoslav with great exuberance, R’ Levik would enthusiastically sing the Hakafos Niggun. He said that he had a tradition that they sang this niggun by the Alter Rebbe (the Rebbe also liked this song very much and referred to it as his father’s niggun, and he began it numerous times on joyous occasions).
This is how Rebbetzin Chana a”h described Simchas Torah by R’ Levik in her memoirs:
“Whoever wanted to rejoice on the holiday headed to our house. In the evening, when it grew dark, young people came too. Each one tried to arrive in a way that would avoid notice, but when they came inside the rav would farbreng with each individually so that for the time they spent in his house they would forget what country they were in and under what conditions.
“One day, after two chazanim (who were guests of R’ Levik during Tishrei) returned to Moscow, I received a thank you letter from them. At the end of the letter they wrote that they saw an amazing thing by the rav of Yekaterinoslav, something they had never seen before. While he rejoiced and danced with such great joy on Simchas Torah, he cried bitterly, something that cannot be described in words. The dancing, they added, was more powerful than the crying.”
The rebbetzin also describes the joy of the hakafos during the dark period of exile in distant Chili:
“The time for hakafos arrived and it is hard for someone as small as myself to describe the spiritual experience that was apparent on my husband’s face when he began to proclaim the verses, ‘Ata Horeisa la’daas ki Hashem Hu HaElokim, ein od milvado!’ He said the words of the verse to the same tune that he used in our city – on the first night in shul with hundreds of Jews in attendance and the next night, in our home with only mekuravim in attendance who amounted to a few dozen people. At home as in shul, not only was there dancing, it seemed as though the stones also danced from the great joy.
“My husband girded himself with that same joy even here. He said each verse and after every hakafa he sang and danced, by himself, of course, and he sang the niggun that was called the rav’s niggun. Between the table and the bed was a small empty space where my husband went round and round as he did the hakafos. As he said the words, you could sense the feelings of his heart, his longing that the simcha be pure and pristine.
“For me, it was a very difficult experience. I sat in a corner on a wooden stool and watched the great love for Torah of this man, who danced this way through all seven hakafos.
“The next day, my husband said the piyut ‘Sisu v’simchu b’simchas Torah’ with the same enthusiasm.”
Regarding another Simchas Torah in exile the Rebbetzin related that “whoever saw my husband sitting and farbrenging on that Simchas Torah could have thought that this man never experienced any suffering in his life … his appearance had greatly changed for the worse but his spirit was exceedingly strong.”
YUD-TES KISLEV
On 19 Kislev, R’ Levik would farbreng all night. This farbrengen left an impression deep in the hearts of the listeners. R’ Nachum Goldschmidt a”h described it (Kfar Chabad issue 298):
“R’ Levi Yitzchok would hold a big farbrengen on 19 Kislev that would last all night. A large crowd came to hear him and he would speak for hours without a break. They were deep topics which included Kabbala, Nigleh and Chassidus.
“He would drink a lot of mashke and would explain at length, according to Kabbala, for example, why the Alter Rebbe was freed in the year 5559 on Tuesday, on the 19th of Kislev, and not on another day, because according to a certain calculation in the Kabbala, he had to be released on this day and not on another day.”
R’ Nachum went on to describe the conduct of R’ Levik’s sons at that farbrengen:
“While their father spoke, his sons stood the entire time. When he finished speaking they went to a nearby room, took the s’farim they were learning, and learned throughout the break between talks, while niggunim were being sung as is customary at a Chassidic farbrengen.
“The children of Yekaterinoslav also held a farbrengen on 19 Kislev, but that was on a different night, so as not to interfere with the rav’s farbrengen. A few days before 19 Kislev they would collect money for their farbrengen. The Rebbe was the one in charge of the money and he was the leader of all the children, since he was the oldest son and the oldest of the children in the town. They would cook kasha and have a meal.
“It was a great holiday and the only day of the year that the Rebbe allowed himself to leave his regular schedule and stop a little from his diligent learning and be involved in other things.”
BEIS NISSAN
The date that the Rebbe Rashab passed away was a significant day for him. In the Rebbetzin’s memoirs there are three descriptions of Beis Nissan with R’ Levik. The first is about hearing the news of his passing and the other two are of Beis Nissan in exile.
“I remember the moment that the message arrived. At that time, communication via the mail and train were erratic, but the news of the histalkus came that day. I have no words with which to describe the impression this news made on us. The feeling was that life had stopped. That was the feeling in our home and in the homes of our mekuravim and of course, in most homes of Anash. My husband cried bitterly and loudly, something he almost never did.
“The matter became known to all those I mentioned – for some reason, I do not recall how. And they all came to our home. More than twenty people sat Shiva in our house in an oppressive atmosphere. They all sobbed bitterly. During that time, I recall, an engineer by the name of YL Karin came to the house, a man far from any inclination toward religion, a freethinker. When he saw people, young and old, and my husband with them, whom he knew as a strong personality (as he put it), all so broken, he cried along with them. He told me that although he was a freethinker, when he found out that this holy rabbi of the Jewish people to whom Jews cleaved with such great hiskashrus, had been lost to the world, he cried too and felt the loss himself. Even after he left the house, as he walked in the street he was unable to calm down and he continued to cry hysterically.”
We have a description of this day, Beis Nissan 5700, about a year after the arrest of R’ Levik, as related by Rebbetzin Chana:
“This day, Beis Nissan, reminds me of the first time I traveled to my husband in his place of exile, for Pesach. It was 1940. My husband did not feel at all well. It was two months after his journey into exile and the conditions there were harsh to an extent that I had not expected. But on this day, my husband forgot all that and said the following:
“‘Today is, after all, Beis Nissan. It would be fitting to say Chassidus, but there aren’t many to whom to say it. I would want to write some inyan in Chassidus but there is no paper to write on. I will have to fulfill my obligation through thought. May Hashem help me have the strength to think…’
“My husband sat for a while immersed in thought and then he began speaking about the Rebbe while completely forgetting where he was and his state.”
This is how the rebbetzin describes her illustrious husband’s feelings on this date, two years later, in 5702:
“We sat, just the two of us, at the table made of boards, near the window which I cover as much as I can without concealing the light so that my husband does not have to see the pigs who constantly walk around the house, something which greatly disturbs his peace of mind.
“Where can I find words to describe what he went through that night? He just said to me, ‘Today is Beis Nissan. Ah, the Rebbe!’ and was immersed in his thoughts for an hour or more.
“At that time, we still did not have ink and pen with which to write. In my inner perception I could see how he yearned with all his might to be able to express something, an inyan great and deep, but he had no one to say it to. He did not respond at all to what was going on in his immediate vicinity, as bitter as the situation was. I could not speak to him at all until he, on his own power, with great exertion, tore himself away from the world he was in.”
PESACH
Pesach by R’ Levi Yitzchok was an uplifting time. In his teachings we find many explanations about the holiday. His conduct during the holiday also bespoke elevation and holiness.
On Erev Pesach, said the Rebbe, his father would go and bake matzos.
As the rav of Yekaterinoslav, Rabbi Levi Yitzchok was responsible for selling the townspeople’s chametz. The rebbetzin describes the sale in her memoirs:
“Until the time for selling the chametz, you could still speak to my husband about anything pertaining to Erev Pesach, but it was all in an atmosphere of trepidation, lest he had not yet fulfilled his obligation in completely eradicating the chametz. Then began the process of signing the bill of sale. The goy would come to our house full of pride; in one day he became the owner of all the businesses in town.
“For the sale not to look like a superficial procedure, done merely to fulfill one’s obligation, my husband would sit with the goy in his study. Nobody was allowed to enter, and he would translate the document into Russian for him. My husband knew Russian well and did not refrain from translating even one type of chametz product enumerated in the document as well as all the chametz on ships at sea and those bringing chametz to the city. The goy was mainly interested in the big wine and liquor businesses that were close to his heart.
“My husband, with the utmost gravity with which he treated the sale, instilled such a fear in the goy that he would sit in terror and say over and over again, ‘I will not allow anyone to enter the factories until the last day of your holiday. Even if they will give me a large sum of money, I am the owner. Yes, yes, I know it all.’ The goy would finish all the formalities and leave our house with the most somber look on his face.
“One time, I remember, the grandson of R’ Berel Wolf came to our house. He was the manager of a factory and he had distanced himself somewhat from the strictly religious. He would visit us often. He pleaded with my husband to allow him in the study when he made the arrangement with the goy until his request was granted. He watched the goings-on from a distance. After several hours he left, pale and dripping sweat. That was the atmosphere created there.
“After the completion of the sale, my husband would sigh in relief like after finishing a very strenuous job.”
The rebbetzin describes the b’dikas chametz that was done when the Rav was in exile, from which we can learn how this was done in ordinary times:
“The night before Pesach, while I was busy preparing our needs for the holiday, my husband experienced a kind of unusual spiritual experience during the long b’dikas chametz process. The next day, during the burning of the chametz, my husband cried the entire time until it was hard to watch. I had never before carefully examined my husband’s behavior. This time, I could just hear the few words, ‘Just as I am eradicating the chametz from my home and my possession, so too You should eradicate all…,’ beyond that I could not hear even one word. He cried copiously and the words were swallowed.”
The rebbetzin describes Pesach night:
“My husband put his soul into every single thing having to do with preparing for the holiday so that this was felt throughout the house and by whoever was in the house. Family and guests were present for the seder. The seuda lasted a long time. Our children were still in the house and also among the guests there were those with whom he could discuss the Hagada in depth.”
The first night, R’ Levik was particular about eating the afikoman before midnight. The second night he was not particular about this and he allowed the divrei Torah to go on at length.
A number of times, the Rebbe said that his father would read Shir HaShirim after the seuda (unlike the practice of the Rebbeim). The rebbetzin described what happened during the recitation:
“After the meal was over, very late at night, my husband would go to his room and say Shir HaShirim. Crying could be heard from the room, in such loud tones that very few people are capable of crying in like manner, and it is hard to describe it in words. I remember that one time, two guests listened to my husband saying Shir HaShirim behind the door. One of them said to me that he had never heard anything like it before and he would never forget it. The other one said that even if it lasted another two nights, he was not too tired to listen.”
SHAVUOS
The holidays by R’ Levi Yitzchok were characterized by a special atmosphere, one that was uplifting and suffused with great emotion. This was true on Shavuos too. He would say the piyut Akdamus, a poem that describes with awe the glory of Hashem, the preciousness of Torah, and the great quality of those who serve Hashem and learn the Torah. R’ Levik would say this piyut and in the last years of his rabbinate, when religious life was unbearable, he said it while standing on the bima, with great arousal and with sobbing (fitting the content of the words – as said by the Rebbe at the meal on the second night of Shavuos 5726).
R’ Levik would speak strongly about Torah observance on Shavuos. His wife describes one of the times that he spoke:
“What he said was very sharp. The audience listened with great pleasure and all forgot for a time where they were, which country they lived in, and what secular laws mitzva observant Jews needed to live by. It was like they were lifted up to another world.”
Dr. Harkavi also described it this way:
“I remember him standing on the bima in the Kazatchya shul on Shavuos before Musaf and holding forth in fiery fashion on the persona of Moshiach.”
CUSTOMS FOR SHABBOS
Friday night, R’ Levi Yitzchok made kiddush long after the “seventh hour.”
Shabbos day, in the shul in Yekaterinoslav, R’ Levi Yitzchok’s aliya would be Maftir. The Rebbe said that they did not read the Haftora from a parchment.
One time, during a fast day, he was asked to read from such a scroll and he refused.
At the third Shabbos meal (which took place in shul or at home), R’ Levi Yitzchok would review Chassidus, that was heavily based on Kabbala. The listeners did not always understand him. The local melamed, the Chassid, R’ Shneur Zalman Vilenkin, relates that R’ Levi Yitzchok was once asked, “Who is the rav addressing? Nobody understands it!”
R’ Levi Yitzchok pointed at his oldest son, the Rebbe, and said, “He understands.”
At the third Shabbos meal, R’ Levi Yitzchok ate fruit like other Chassidim and did not wash for bread. At this time, R’ Levi Yitzchok would say the entire chapter 119 of T’hillim as the Alter Rebbe writes in Kuntres Acharon, chapter 9. In our generation, Chassidim do not have this practice.
After Havdala, R’ Levi Yitzchok would say, “v’yitein lecha” with someone else (as witnessed by a number of people at his house). As for the reason, says the Rebbe, “I don’t know,” but this is what the Rebbe Rayatz did too.
At the fourth meal he drank a cup of hot liquid as brought in the Gemara as a healthy thing to do regarding Motzaei Shabbos.