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.
