Bar Mitzvah Remembers Boy

By COLlive Reporter

What would usually be a happy celebration, the coming of age of a bright and eager Bar Mitzvah boy, was held Tuesday night in Long Island’s Five Towns, but with a different focus.

20 Kislev 5773 would have been the 13th birthday of Levi Yitzchak Wolowik OBM, the son of Five Towns Shluchim Rabbi Zalman and Chanie Wolowik. He passed away 3 years ago at the young age of 9.

600 people gathered this week to mark the occasion, but not with the usual party. Instead, with learning and reflection on this young boy and the impact made on the world since his tragic passing.

“Today would have been a great celebration,” noted Rabbi Mendy Kotlarsky, director of Merkos Suite 302 and the boy’s uncle, describing the emotions of many who were in attendance.

“On the one side there is tears, and on the other we celebrate. We celebrate because in the last few years, the amount of Torah learned and Mitzvos done in Levi’s memory is exemplary,” he said. “Today we move forward and recommit to continue.”

And continued they have. “Usually when people think of preparing for a Bar Mitzvah, they think of the food and clothing and the party. But after Levi’s passing we knew that we will have to prepare for his Bar Mitzvah in a special way,” his brother Binyomin said before reciting a siyum.

Levi’s brothers have been learning with their father Mishnayos Nezikin to prepare for the occasion. Rabbi Wolowik has intensified his learning as well in the last 3 years, setting aside hours each day to learn with chavrusas and give shiurim.

At the event, he made a siyum on the entire Tamud Bavli in honor of the Bar Mitzvah. “We are extremely grateful for the 9 years and 2 months that Levi was with us,” he said. “His birthday lives on in a spiritual sense. Even in the afterlife there is maturity, as we say the tehillim on the birthday of an individual even after their passing.”

“DEAR LEVI”

What some find most striking about Levi Wolowik was the impact the 9-year-old had during his life and even after it tragically ended on a peaceful Shabbos day.

“You were larger than life, and wise beyond your years. You are our role model,” one of his brothers was filmed saying in a video presentation titled “Dear Levi.”

The narration, in the form of a letter and the photos of his short life, showed how Levi loved helping out his parents in their Chabad center.

“We miss you so much,” they said. “We can’t believe it’s been 3 and a half years since we last saw you. You continue to inspire us. Our family took this tremendous tragedy and turned it into something positive.”

A grand testament to his memory is the Levi Yitzchok Library in Cedarhurst, a forward-thinking education center designed to engage families with a vast selection of books, multimedia activities and creative outlets that represent traditional Jewish values.

Since its opening, the center has been a community jewel that inspires visitors to interact and grow together, in a warm environment of discovery and learning.

His grandfather Rabbi Moshe Kotlarsky, Vice Chairman of Merkos, noted how the library has been serving many young Shluchim living in remote areas, without regular access to Jewish books, enabling them to receive books by mail.

“You can imagine what Levi would be like. You can imagine his goals and ideals,” he noted in an emotional speech. “Levi had no doubts about his identity. He would tell you, ‘I’m a Jew and a Shliach of the Rebbe.’ He lived to look for people to help.”

A special musical production, “Levi’s Legacy,” produced and sung by Sholom Jacobs, ended the event on a note of inspiration.

MEMORY LIVES ON

On Monday, children gathered at the Library for educational Mitzvah workshops, and on Monday evening, the Library hosted Levi’s friends and family for a special printing of the Tanya on Kislev 19, the day the Alter Rebbe was released from Czarist prison.

Mendel Geisinsky, shliach and Levi’s friend, introduced the printing. Mendel Wolowik, Levi’s cousin from Monsey, gave over a summary of Perek Lamed Bais and spoke about the tremendous amount of Ahavas Yisroel Levi had towards every Jew.

While Rabbi Wolowik printed the Tanya, the men and boys present sang the Alter Rebbe’s Nigunim. As a souvenir the children received the latest “Chassidishe Chalomos” CD with the first Perek of Tanya.

The “Bar Mitzvah” event at Young Israel of Lawrence-Cedarhurst on Tuesday was the last in a series of events to mark the special day, yet not the final testimony to Levi Wolowik’s special life.

GLOBAL FARBRENGEN

With Levi’s birthday coinciding with 19 Kislev, Shluchim from around the world took part in a farbrengen in the home of the Wolowiks, broadcast live by Beis Hamedrash L’shluchim.

It began Sunday with community members in the Five Towns sitting around the table with Rabbi Yossi Lew of Chabad Peachtree City in Georgia and continued later for the shluchim. Some tuned in by phone as well.

In physical attendance were Levi’s grandfather Rabbi Leibel Wolowik of Montreal, Long Island Head Shliach Rabbi Tuvia Teldon and Thailand Head Shliach Rabbi Yossef Chaim Kantor.

Rabbi Lew focused, among other topics, on the explanation of the Rebbe about Yaakov Avinu sending “Malachim Mammosh,” actual angels to his brother Esav, that only their physicality was sent, however their essence remained with him.

“So too by us Shluchim, although physically far, our essence, inspirations and “spiritual buttons” remain with our meshaleiach, the Rebbe,” he said. The farbrengen continued until 3:00 AM with nearly 100 shluchim still eagerly listening.

To donate to the Levi Yitzchak Library or for more info, visit lylibrary.org.