Simcha Zissel Halevi Levovitz
Simcha Zissel Halevi Levovitz (1908–2001) was a rabbi and founder of the first Mesivta (Jewish High School) in Boro Park, Brooklyn, and a teacher of thousands of students.
He was born in 1908 in Ozovnet, Lithuania. His father, Musar movement leader Rabbi Yeruchom Levovitz, was the spiritual leader of Yeshivas Mir.[1]
Simcha Zissel studied in the yeshivas of Grodno, Telz and Brisk. At the start of World War II, he was able to flee to the United States due to the efforts of Rabbi Elimelech Gavriel (Mike) Tress.[2]
Simcha Zissel settled in Brooklyn, New York where he married the daughter of Rabbi Naftali Carlebach, Chief Rabbi of Berlin, Germany. After WWII, Rabbi Carlebach established the famous synagogue Kehilath Jacob on the Upper West Side, New York City.[3]
After his marriage, Simcha Zissel founded the first yeshiva high school in Boro Park. In addition to studying and teaching, he dedicated himself to publishing the writings of his father, Yeruchom Levovitz and of the rabbi after whom he was named, Simcha Zissel Ziv.
Simcha Zissel and his wife had three sons and one daughter. His sons are all rabbis: Yeruchom, Yisroel, and Osher Michoel. His son-in-law is Rabbi Avrohom Moshe Faivelson.
References
- http://www.chareidi.org/archives5761/devarim/DVRMarlvvtz.htm
- Daring to dream: profiles in the growth of the American Torah community (Agudath Israel of America, 2003)
- http://www.chareidi.org/archives5761/devarim/DVRMarlvvtz.htm
His son Yisroel has married children: Naftali to Esther Leah (Cohen), Nosson Tzvi to Devorah Esther (Krasner), Haddasah Leah to Osher Steinharter, Yael to Shmuel Simcha Goldberg, Chava to Yitzchak Zev Wasserman, and Eliyahu Zalman to Chava (Sorotzkin), and Simcha and Sholom (twins) are 12.