Rabbi Mendy Sasonkin, 54, OBM

By COLlive reporter

Rabbi Menachem Mendel Sasonkin, one of the dynamic Chabad Shluchim in Ohio, passed away on Monday – Simchas Torah night, 23 Tishrei 5779.

He was 54 and battled a terrible illness over the last 5 years.

He born to a Lubavitch family that has been at the forefront of spreading Yiddishkeit during the harsh oppression of the Communist regime. Among them were his great-grandfather Rabbi Nachum Shemaryahu Sasonkin and his grandfather Rabbi Moshe Sasonkin who was imprisoned never to be seen again.

Rabbi Mendy was born in Israel to his parents Rabbi Avrohom Yitzchok Sasonkin and his wife Mrs. Sarah Rivkah Sasonkin, daughter of the legendary Shliach Rabbi Sholom Posner of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

The couple was one of the last which the Rebbe officiated their chuppah on Tammuz 5722. The newlyweds soon moved on Shlichus to Avital, a moshav in northern Israel near Afula, where they influenced and taught Yiddishkeit to many men, women and children.

Rabbi Mendy Sasonkin grew up as the oldest of 9 children in those early days of Chabad’s pioneering outreach and education work in Israel. As he learned in Chabad Yeshivahs in Israel and later in the US, he soon joined the Shlichus ranks himself.

He married Kaila, daughter of Rabbi Leibel Alevsky, today the Head Shliach of Ohio. In 1989, when young Rabbi Mendy was 24 and Kaila aged 22, they moved to Summit County to establish Chabad of Akron & Canton serving the fifth largest city in the state.

In 1995, Rabbi Sasonkin has been serving as the spiritual leader of Anshe Sfard Congregation – Revere Road Synagogue, a historic Orthodox shul that was founded 1915 with the purpose to be a place for traditional Jewish life in the Akron community. Mrs. Sasonkin served as the Education Director.

In the book “Jewish Life in Akron,” published in 2005, authors Arlene Cohen Rossen and Beverly Magilavy Rose described the Sasonkins as “eager, knowledgeable and energetic. They play a dual role in the community.”

“He was a friend and true mensch,” said Todd Rockoff who got to know Rabbi Sasonkin while serving as Executive Director of the Shaw JCC of Akron between 2001 and 2013. “Rabbi Mendy was an inspiring leader who understood the value of community and learning together.”

He is survived by his wife Kaila and their children, Shmuli Sasonkin (Winter Park, FL), Chaim Sasonkin (Parkland, FL), Moshe Sasonkin (Kent, OH), Mussie Klein (Memphis, TN) Berele, Levi, Meir, Ari, Yossi, and Chana; grandchildren.

He is survived by his parents Rabbi Avrohom Yitzchok and Sarah Rivkah Sasonkin – Avital, Israel; his parents-in-law Rabbi Leibel and Devorah Alevsky – Cleveland, OH; and his siblings Rabbi Moshe Sasonkin, Chanie Kalmenson, Rabbi Berele Sasonkin, Itty Goldshmid, Rabbi Nochum Sasonkin, Rabbi Yechezkel Sasonkin, Malky Goldshmid and Rabbi Yehuda Sasonkin.

He was predeceased by his brother-in-law, Rabbi Moshe Freedman, the Shliach in Bahia Blanca, Argentina, who passed away in 2016.

The Levaya will take place on Wednesday, 24 Tishrei – Oct 3, 4:00 PM at the Revere Road Synagogue in Akron and he will be interred in the local Jewish cemetery.

The family will be sitting Shiva in Akron until Sunday. They will be sitting Shiva in New York from Sunday afternoon through Tuesday morning, at 1374 Union Street in Crown Heights.

To donate to the Rabbi Mendy Sasonkin Legacy Fund, visit charidy.com/sasonkinlegacy

Baruch Dayan Haemes: Menachem Mendel ben Avrohom Yitzchok.