The twentieth of the month is the
yahrzeit of the erudite chassid and Kabbalist, R. Levi Yitzchak Schneerson (father of the Rebbe
Shlita) - son of R. Baruch Shneur, son of R. Levi Yitzchak, son of R. Baruch Shalom, eldest son of the
Tzemach Tzedek. R. Levi Yitzchak was imprisoned and exiled for his work in strengthening and spreading
Yiddishkeit, and died in exile on the 20th of Menachem Av, 5704 (1944) in Alma Ata, in the USSR province of Kazakhstan.
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It is the custom of the Rebbe Shlita to mark this date by a farbrengen, which he opens - if it falls on a weekday - with a siyum, the festive completion of a tractate that he has studied.
On the 20th of Menachem Av in 5724 (1964), which was the twentieth yahrzeit of the passing of his father, of blessed memory, the Rebbe Shlita founded a loan fund, Keren Levi Yitzchak, in his name.[378]
Notes:
- (Back to text) See Kovetz Lubavitch, Booklet 4; Bitaon Chabad, Booklet 3; Ashkavta DeRebbe, p. 146.
- (Back to text) This fund offers [interest-free] loans specifically to institutions of authentic Torah education and to teachers of Torah subjects.
The Three Weeks and Public Fasts