Wikipedia
Rabbi Levi Yitzchak Schneerson, (1878-1944), was a Chabad Hasidic rabbi in Yekatrinoslav, Ukraine. He was the father of the seventh and last Chabad-Lubavitch Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson.

Rabbi Levi Yitzchak Schneerson was born in 1878 in the town of Podrovnah (near Gomel) to his parents, Rabbi Baruch Schneur and Rebbetzin Zelda Rachel Schneerson. His great-great grandfather was the third Chabad Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneersohn of Lubavitch.

In 1900, Rabbi Levi Yitzchak married Rebbetzin Chana Yanovski, whose father, Rabbi Meir Shlomo, was the Rabbi of the Ukrainian city of Nikolaiev. In 1902, their eldest son, Menachem Mendel was born. He was later to become the Rebbe of Lubavitch.

Chof Av: Yartzeit of R. Levi Yitzchak Schneerson

Wikipedia

Rabbi Levi Yitzchak Schneerson, (1878-1944), was a Chabad Hasidic rabbi in Yekatrinoslav, Ukraine. He was the father of the seventh and last Chabad-Lubavitch Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson.

Rabbi Levi Yitzchak Schneerson was born in 1878 in the town of Podrovnah (near Gomel) to his parents, Rabbi Baruch Schneur and Rebbetzin Zelda Rachel Schneerson. His great-great grandfather was the third Chabad Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneersohn of Lubavitch.

In 1900, Rabbi Levi Yitzchak married Rebbetzin Chana Yanovski, whose father, Rabbi Meir Shlomo, was the Rabbi of the Ukrainian city of Nikolaiev. In 1902, their eldest son, Menachem Mendel was born. He was later to become the Rebbe of Lubavitch.

Rabbi Levi Yitzchak lived in Nikolaiev until 1909, when he was appointed to serve as the Rabbi of Yekatrinoslav. In 1939 he was arrested by the communist regime for his fearless stance against the Party’s efforts to eradicate Jewish learning and practice in the Soviet Union. After more than a year of torture and interrogations in Stalin’s prisons, he was sentenced to exile to the interior of Russia. There he died in 1944.

Rabbi Levi Yitzchak was a distinguished Kabbalist. Some of his writings have been published under the name Likutei Levi Yitschok. Most of it, however, was burned or confiscated by the Soviet authorities, and have yet to be returned to the Chabad movement.

L’Chaim Weekly

In the upcoming week falls the 20th day of the month of Av, the yahrzeit of Rabbi Levi Yitzchak Schneerson, the Rebbe’s father. The Rebbe’s father was a great luminary in his own right, an awesome reservoir of Talmudic and Kabbalistic knowledge. But perhaps the most unique dimension of his character was his unflinching commitment to Jewish practice and the total lack of fear with which he expressed that commitment.

One night in 1935, in the midst of the fiercest Stalinist oppression, a woman knocked on his door. “I’ve come from a distant city whose name I cannot mention. In approximately one hour, my daughter and her fianc? will also arrive. They both hold high government positions and so their coming here is fraught with danger. They have agreed to be married according to Jewish law, provided you would perform the wedding in your home.”

Rav Levi Yitzchak consented and set about gathering together a minyan for the wedding. Within half an hour, he had brought eight other men into his home. But the tenth man was lacking. On the bottom floor of the apartment house where Rav Levi Yitzchak lived a young Jewish man who had been hired by the Communist authorities to spy on the goings on in Rav Levi Yitzchak’s home. Rav Levi Yitzchak was well aware of who this person was and how he was employed. Yet when the tenth man was lacking, he sent for him.

“We need a tenth man for a minyan so that a Jewish couple can marry,” he told his neighbor.

“And so you sent for me?!” the neighbor responded in utter amazement. And yet he consented to participate in the minyan and did not inform about the ceremony.

Years later, the Rebbe would say: “From my father I learned never to be afraid.”