יארצייט הרש"ל - ארבעים שנה

Reb Shmuel Levitin was the zkan and most respected Lubavitcher chossid from his arrival in NY in 1938 until his passing on 11 Elul תשל"ד. The Rebbe had great derech eretz for Reb Shmuel  as well and would write his name as such: הרש"ל. There are countless such stories. Reb Shmuel was Rov in Rakshik, Lita until he left Europe. He was a grandson of the great Reb Gershon Ber of Pahar, and would call himself a 5th mekabel of the Alter Rebbe. He was sent to the US by the Frierdige Rebbe as a שד"ר in 1938 and was thus saved from the horrors of WWII, but he lost his wife and several of his children, r"l.  In Crown Heights he was the Rov of the Lubavitcher shul - 770, until his passing. He was the first when it came to kibbudim, went along with the Rebbe to shiva calls or to visit the camps, etc. Bekitzer, he was the man. He was already a "zach" בחייו  of the Rebbe Rashab, being sent on shlichus to the Republic of Georgia, where he exhibited great mesiras nefesh and brought many closer to Torah, as well as to Chassidus. Anybody who came in contact with him will tell you one thing for sure, he was a great פקח. Anyway, we all know that in Lubavitch we say Yisgadal VeYiskadash, not "deil" and "deish." Reb Shmuel, however, had this minhag to say "deil" and "deish," which was apparently how the Rebbe Rashab would say it. Here we bring you a recording from Reb Shmuel davening for the amud and being oleh leTorah in the summer of 5725/1965, where we can hear saying it as such.

Thanks for listening.