Levi Yitzchak Horowitz | |
---|---|
![]() Horowitz at the
Western Wall, Jerusalem | |
Title | Second Bostoner Rebbe |
Personal | |
Born | Levi Yitzchok Horowitz July 3, 1921
Boston,
Massachusetts, US |
Died | December 5, 2009 | (aged 88)
Religion | Judaism |
Spouse | Raichel Ungar, Yehudis |
Children | Pinchos Dovid Horowitz Mayer Alter Horowitz Naftali Yehuda Horowitz Shayna Gittel Toba Leah |
Parents |
|
Jewish leader | |
Predecessor | Pinchos Dovid Horowitz |
Successor | Pinchos Dovid Horowitz (II) (1943-2021), Mayer Alter Horowitz Naftali Yehuda Horowitz |
Began | 1944 |
Ended | 2009 |
Dynasty | Boston |
Levi Yitzchak HaLevi Horowitz (born 3 July 1921, Boston, [1] died 5 December 2009, Jerusalem [2]) was a rabbi and the second rebbe of the Boston Hasidic Dynasty founded by his father, Pinchos Dovid Horowitz. He was the first American-born Hasidic rebbe [3] and the founder of ROFEH International, a community-based medical referral and hospitality liaison support agency. [4]
Horowitz's parents were Pinchos Dovid Horowitz, founder of the Boston Hasidic dynasty, and Sora Sosha Horowitz. His father died in November 1941. In November 1942 [1] he married Raichel Unger Leifer of Cleveland, Ohio, [5] [6] a descendant of Naftali Tzvi of Ropshitz.
In 1943, Horowitz was one of over 400 rabbis led by Baruch Korff who traveled to Washington, D.C., just before Yom Kippur, to ask President Franklin D. Roosevelt to rescue Jews from Hitler. [3] [7]
Upon becoming leader of the Bostoners in 1944, after his marriage and ordination at Yeshiva Torah Vodaath, 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 [3]
In 1984, Horowitz established Givat Pincus, a Hasidic community in the Har Nof neighborhood of Jerusalem and began dividing his time between Israel and Boston. [3] In 1999, an additional community was established in Beitar for the next generation of Bostoner Chassidim.
Horowitz served as a member of the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah of Agudath Israel of Israel.
At the time of his death, he resided both in the U.S. and in Israel spending half a year in each country. Day-to-day leadership in his community had already passed on to his children.[ citation needed]
Horowitz suffered a cardiac arrest on July 6, 2009, and was hospitalized in the Sharei Tzedek hospital in Jerusalem. [8] He died on December 5, 2009, and was buried that night on the Mount of Olives. [9]
Per his will, he was succeeded by all his sons:
The Bostoner Rebbe, Rabbi Levi Yitzchak Horowitz, died at Shaarei Tzedek Hospital in Jerusalem on Sabbath