His name was Rabbi Schneerson.

No, not the Ukrainian-Born, Brooklyn-based, Rabbi Menachem Schneerson, who revolutionized Jewish life after the holocaust and brought Judaism, through his Chabad Lubavitch movement, to six continents. This was Rabbi Menachem’s revered father, Rabbi Levi Yitzchak.

Today, Aug. 14, corresponding to the 20th of Av on the Jewish calendar, we commemorate the 81st anniversary since his passing.

Born in 1878, the oldest of four, Levi Yitzchak was a child prodigy. In 1900, at the age of 22, he married Chana, daughter of Rabbi Meir Shlomo Yanovsky, the Rabbi of Mykolaiv. The young couple had three children, their eldest being Menachem, who eventually became known as the “Rebbe”. In 1909, Levi Yitzchak was called upon to serve as rabbi of the Ukrainian city of Ekater

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