Mitzvahs are the Gifts at Memorial Bar Mitzvah Service

When young Levi Wolowik was not up and ready to go to synagogue one Shabbat morning four years ago, his mother was concerned. It was not like her nine-year-old son to sleep in. He was usually the first one out of the house to attend synagogue — not only to pray, but also to be of assistance to others in any way possible. When his mother went into his room to wake him up, the family’s life went into turmoil. “We realized Levi would never wake up,” said his younger brother Dovid. “Our family will never be the same.”

Hundreds gathered at the Young Israel of Lawrence this week with Levi’s parents, Rabbi Zalman and Chanie Wolowik, co-directors of Chabad-Lubavitch of the Five Towns, to mark what would have been Levi’s 13th birthday, his Bar Mitzvah. A Bar Mitzvah marks the time when a Jewish boy enters the age of adulthood and is now obligated to keep the commandments, of Judaism, called mitzvahs.

“We do not know why Levi passed away,” said Shula Kazen, 90, Levi’s great-grandmother. “It is very hard, but being sad will not help you. G-d gives, G-d takes, but now we need to do something in the child’s memory.”

Mrs. Kazen is a veteran Chabad-Lubavitch community leader from Cleveland, Ohio, who endured many tragedies as a young girl leading a religious Jewish life in the former Soviet Union. Her parents were active in the Jewish underground, striving to keep Judaism alive. Her father was jailed when she was still a child, never to be seen again. “From crying you get nothing,” she said. “You need to do. To do projects in his memory. To help other people do mitzvahs.”

“We are grateful for the time Levi was with us,” Zalman Wolowik told the crowd that had gathered for the memorial service, “and we recognize that there is a joy with his legacy continuing, whether it is a library built in his memory or the many good deeds by individuals.”

A Bar Mitzvah is usually celebrated with a synagogue ceremony and then a grand celebration, with friends and family arriving with presents. This week the Jewish community of the Five Towns, the Wolowik family, and Levi’s friends all gathered together with their own presents–in the form of mitzvahs, good deeds and other Jewish projects.

“At a Bar Mitzvah we usually celebrate the doing of mitzvahs,” said his brother Yerachmiel. Now, when Levi cannot do mitzvahs, “everyone here is asked to do another mitzvah in his memory.”

Presents for Levi

In the years since Levi Wolowik’s passing members of the Five Towns Jewish community worked to establish the Levi Yitzchak Family Center, containing a Jewish library and media center.

The library includes reading material for adults and children. “I could come sit and learn [Jewish texts],” says Avi Ostreicher, “while the kids read and play.”

“This young boy will be remembered forever by all the children who come to this wonderful place,” attorney Benjamin Brafman stated proudly, explaining that the center is a present to Levi for his Bar Mitzvah.

The library commemorated the boy’s Bar Mitzvah date with a printing of the Tanya, the foundational text of Chabad-Lubavitch philosophy, and the driving force behind the activities of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement. Levi’s brother Dovid told the crowd that Levi wrote in his diary that “he wants to be a Chabad rabbi, to help bring Jews to Judaism,” so the printing of the Tanya is a most appropriate present.

Maternal grandfather Rabbi Moshe Kotlarsky, vice-chairman of Merkos L’inyonei Chinuch, the education arm of Chabad-Lubavitch, asked, “what would Levi have been when he grew up?”

“I could see him being a rabbi in a shul,” he says, using the Yiddish word for synagogue, “that is built for the betterment of the Jewish people, founded upon the notion of helping another individual.”

In addition to their work for their community, Levi’s family also focused on personal growth in Torah learning and mitzvah performance in time for the occasion.

“We knew that when our brother Levi passed away,” says his brother Binyomin, “we would have to do something special for [the occasion].” He related that since Levi’s passing his father learned all the tractates of the Mishnah with him and his brothers. Mishnah is considered to be particularly appropriate to learn in memory of the deceased, as its Hebrew spelling contains the same letters as the Hebrew word for soul, neshamah. The boys completed the Mishnah at the memorial service.

Additionally, Levi’s father, Rabbi Wolowik, learned the entire 2,711 folios of the Talmud in time for what would have been his son’s Bar Mitzvah. “The Talmud ends with words of praise and comfort,” said Wolowik. “Personally, the deepest comfort I could find was in the learning of the Talmud. Without the pleasures and comfort from the learning, I would have been lost in my pain.”

“It was very hard,” says Levi’s mother Chanie, “you think you’re going to your child’s Bar Mitzvah and here you are going to a memorial.” She says that the event was to continue Levi’s legacy, and “through the support of family and friends we have been able to mark this day meaningfully. A day merged with memory of Levi and all the good deeds that were done by others. We are very grateful.”

4 Comments

  • Oy

    this is so so sad and to turn it into action/positivity – that takes alot of energy , wow so admirable they should have much hatzlocho, siimchos and nachas.

  • r z

    amazing family!

    what an example of turning a tragic event into a positive future!

    what courage for all the kids to speak about their brother in this way.

  • Rebbetzen Shula

    you are so inspiring.. may you live for many more years, with no more tzaros in your life!