Rav Levi Yitzchok Bender zt"l
הרב לוי יצחק בן אברהם נח בנדר זצ"ל
Tammuz 22 , 5749
Rav Levi Yitzchok Bender zt"l
Rav Levi Yitzchak Bender (1897-1989). Born in Grodzisk (near Warsaw), he was sent to Yeshivas Mokov when he was ten, where he became drawn to Breslav Chassidus. The teachings of Rav Nachman (who died in 1810) were transmitted chiefly by his talmid, Rav Nasan Sternhartz, who transcribed the Rebbe's teachings and conversations. After Rav Nasan's passing in 1844, the torch of Breslav was carried on by a number of leaders, including Rav Nachman of Tulchin (died 1884) and Rav Nachman of Tcherin (died 1894). The fourth generation of leaders included Rav Yitzchak Breiter (died around 1943) and Rav Avraham Chazan (Rav Nachman of Tulchin's son; died in 1917). Rav Levi Yitzchak, one of the fifth-generation leaders, was a talmid of Rav Avraham Chazan. The sixth generation leaders of our time include Rav Yaakov Meir Shechter (born 1931), one of the well-known gedolim of Eretz Yisrael. After his father-in-law's passing, Rav Levi Yitzchak moved with his family to Uman, where he remained for twenty years until 1936. After five years in Moscow, Rav Levi Yitzchak, his wife and his daughter, moved to Tashkent in Uzbekistan, Central Asia. In 1945, the family moved to nearby Samerkand, known as the Yerushalayim of Uzbekistan, which had a much larger, loyal Jewish community. In 1949, Rav Levi Yitzchak arrived in Eretz Yisrael, where he helped build Breslav chassidism into the vibrant community of today, and helped establish the main Breslav beis medrash, near the border of the Meah Shearim district.


