9 months ago

Thousands Visit Reb Levik’s Kever on Chof Av

Over 1,000 guests, anash, bochurim, shluchim and locals visited the tziyun of Harav Levi Yitzchok Schneerson, father of the Rebbe, over Chof Av • Full Story, Photos

Photos by Mendi Kotlyar

Over 1,000 guests, anash, bochurim, shluchim and locals visited the tziyun of Harav Levi Yitzchok Schneerson, father of the Rebbe, over Chof Av.

Harav Levi Yitzchok passed away in Kazakhstan 79 years ago after being exiled there by the brutal Communist regime for the “crime” of spreading Torah and mitzvos. Almost immediately after his passing, his tziyun became known as a place where miracles were consistently seen. During the years of communism, the Rebbe sent a number of individuals that were trying to escape to daven by the tziyun, and they all merited to miraculously leave the country.

This year, Chof Av in Almaty kicked off with a grand farbrengen marking the yahrzeit, held in the campus of the Jewish community center near the tziyun. Joining the farbrengen were local Yidden from across the country who traveled to Almaty to mark the important day, together with many of the international guests.

The annual farbrengen took on additional significance this year, being a Hakhel year. The theme of Hakhel was the central theme of the event, with a special performance being put on by local Jewish children who were dressed as Kohanim, and bochurim from the Moscow yeshiva who together played out the Hakhel gathering as it took place in the Beis Hamikdash.

Addressing the event were shluchim Rabbi Yeshaya Cohen, Chief Rabbi of Kazakhstan, and Rabbi Elchonon Cohen, rabbi of Almaty. A special guest at the farbrengen was Rabbi Mendel Chitrik, shliach to Turkey, and head of the Alliance of Rabbis in Islamic States, of which the rabbis of Kazakhstan, a Muslim country, are members of. Also joining was Rabbi Chaim Hillel Azimov of North Cyprus.

Israeli Minister of Religious Affairs Rabbi Michael Malchieli, Minister of Jerusalem Affairs and Jewish Tradition Rabbi Meir Porush and Diaspora Minister Amichai Shikli also participated by sending special letters to the community commemorating Chof Av.

“As the Jewish community of Kazakhstan gathers to mark the start of the 80^th years since the passing of Harav Levi Yitzchok Schneerson zt”l – father of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, I send you my blessings from here, the holy city of Yerushalayim,” Minister Porush’s letter read.

“Rabbi Levi Yitzchak, who passed away in exile in Kazakhstan after being exiled there by the evil communist regime, is an exemplary figure in the way he tirelessly toiled for the spread of the light of Judaism even under the most difficult and dangerous conditions, during the terrifying years of the communist struggle to erase Jewish identity in the USSR. This is in addition to the fight against anti-Semitism during the Beilis trial. His legacy continued to resonate even more strongly through the great stature of his son, the Lubavitcher Rebbe, who was the foremost to spread Judaism and strengthen it in every point on the globe,” he wrote.

Another emotional and exciting event took place yesterday, when a local teenager chose to undergo a bris milah on Chof Av.

After davening in the tziyun, the bris milah was held, with sandek being R’ Avi Shaulson, who, together with R’ Avi Stern, was the driving force behind the establishment of the annual Yeshivas Kayitz in Almaty and makes it possible for the yearly Chof Av trip of hundreds of chassidim to Kazakhstan.

Next to the boy stood Rabbi Menachem Mendel Zalmanov, shliach to the boy’s hometown Kostanay. The Mohel was shliach to Alma Ata Rabbi Elchanan Cohen, representative of the Bris Yosef Yitzchak organization.

The young boy chose the name Chaim for himself, leading Rabbi Yeshaya Elazar Cohen, the Chief Rabbi and Head Shliach of Kazakhstan to declare that “This Bris is more evidence of the continuation of Jewish life (Chaim) in the country. We are reaping today what Rabbi Levi Yitzchak sowed in tears.”