Levi Yitzchak Horowitz
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| Levi Yitzchak Horowitz | ||
|---|---|---|
| Bostoner Rebbe | ||
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| Praying at the Western Wall, Jerusalem | ||
| Term | 1944 – present | |
| Full name | Leivi Yitschok Horowitz | |
| Born | 3 July, 1921 | |
| Boston | ||
| Dynasty | Boston | |
| Predecessor | Pinchos Dovid Horowitz | |
| Father | Pinchos Dovid Horowitz | |
| Mother | Sora Sosha | |
| Wife1 | Raichel Ungar | |
| Issue1 | Pinchos Horowitz Mayer Horowitz Shayna Frankel Naftoli Horowitz Toby Geldzahler |
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| Wife 2 | Yehudis | |
Grand Rabbi Levi Yitzchak Horowitz, popularly known as the Bostoner Rebbe, is distinguished as the first American-born hasidic rebbe. He established the New England Chassidic Center and founded an American-style community in Jerusalem where he resides for several months each year.
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[edit] Family
Reb Levi Yitzchak was born to his parents, Grand Rabbi Pinchos Dovid Horowitz, the first Bostoner Rebbe, and Rebbitzen Sora Sosha Horowitz, a descendant of the Baal Shem Tov, in Boston on July 3, 1921, corresponding to the Jewish date 27 Sivan 5681. His father, founder of the Boston Hasidic dynasty, died in November 1941. In 1942, shortly after his father's death, he married Rachel Unger Leifer of Cleveland, Ohio[1][2], a descendant of Reb Naftoli Ropshitzer and two years later, in 1944, Reb Levi Yitzchak, took up the position of Grand Rabbi in Boston.
The rebbe's eldest son, the Chuster Rov, Rabbi Pinchos Dovid Horowitz, lives in Brooklyn, New York where he runs the well known medical and social services network Nachas Healthnet.
His youngest son Rabbi Naftali Yehuda Horowitz manages ROFEH, a Medical Referral and Support Service.
His son-in-law in America is Rabbi Yosef Frankel, the Rov of K'hal Bnei Shlomo Zalman. Rabbi Frankel, also known as the Vielopoler Rov, is a member of the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah of the USA.
Another son-in-law, Rabbi Moshe Chaim Geldzahler, heads a congregation in Har Nof, where he is a senior judge of the Rabbinical Court.
The rebbe's eldest grandson, Rabbi Moshe Shimon Horowitz, eldest son of the Chuster Rov, lives in Beitar Illit where he is the highly popular Rav of the Boston Chassidic Community and a well respected communal figure.
The rebbe now spends several months each year in Har Nof, Jerusalem, together with his second wife, Yehudis, whom he married in 2005.
[edit] Communal activism
In 1943, Rabbi Levi Yitschok Horowitz was one of the four hundred-plus rabbis led by Rabbi Baruch Korff who traveled to Washington, D.C. just before Yom Kippur, to plead with President Franklin D. Roosevelt to rescue Jews from Hitler.[3]
In 1944, upon becoming the first American-born chasidic rebbe, he announced that his primary thrust as rebbe would be aimed at the area's large number of college students, many of whom were away from home and in a perfect position to partake of all that he felt the New England Chassidic Center could offer them. Many tried to dissuade him, saying that chasidus and college did not and could not mix, but the Rebbe persevered and was personally responsible for returning many hundreds of students at Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology to their Jewish roots.
It was always a vision and ambition of the rebbe to establish a community in Eretz Yisrael, the land of Israel, the Jewish biblical homeland. After several false, and at times, expensive starts, the rebbe was finally able to arrange in the early 1980s for the development of an American-style community in the Har Nof section of Jerusalem. Under R' Levi Yitzchak's personal leadership it has become a vibrant chasidic center. New immigrants, students, visitors and world-famous rabbis have all visited Reb Levi Yitzchak in Har Nof, to seek his counsel and to join him for Shabbos, Yom Tov or other special occasions.
In 1998 the rebbe appointed his eldest grandson, Rabbi Moshe Shimon Horowitz, to establish and lead a new community in Beitar Illit, near Jerusalem, to serve the needs of his younger followers who were seeking more affordable housing. That congregation is today home to a full-time Talmudic study academy.
The Rebbe serves as a member of the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah of Agudath Israel of Israel.
[edit] Reaching Out Furnishing Emergency Healthcare (ROFEH)
One of the prominent achievements of R' Levi Yitzchak is Project ROFEH. ROFEH (which also means "physician" in Hebrew) is an organization dedicated to providing Medical Referral and Support Services to those in need of help. ROFEH was established in 1952 following a request from the Chazon Ish to assist an Israeli patient who needed treatment for a heart problem. Boston is home to some of the world's finest medical facilities that are sought out by people throughout the world. ROFEH assists the sick and their families with referrals to expert physicians, hospitality and a furnished apartment if a hospital stay is required. More than the physical though, ROFEH provides a shoulder to lean on for people in time of need. ROFEH is managed by the rebbe's youngest son Rabbi Naftali Yehuda Horowitz.
[edit] References
- ^ The Bostoner Rebbetzin
- ^ Raichel Horowitz
- ^ International Jerusalem Post, January 19-25, 2007, Page 19
