Editing Levi Yitzchak Schneerson (section)

== As Rabbi of Yekaterinoslav ==
In 1908, Rabbi Dov Zev Kozevnikov, the Chassidic Rabbi of Yekaterinoslav (today Dnipro), passed away. The city's "Ashkenazi" Rabbi was also elderly and frail. Due to the situation that arose, community leaders hurried to choose new rabbis. The Misnagdim took Rabbi Pinchas Gelman as their rabbi, while for the Chassidim, the Rebbe Rashab suggested appointing Rabbi Levi Yitzchak Schneerson, who was serving at that time as Rabbi of Nikolayev, also in Ukraine.

Some of the Zionist movement leaders in the city were wary of him, since during those years the Rebbe Rashab had come out in sharp opposition to the Zionist movement, and they feared that the Rebbe Rashab's nominee was also part of his camp. Therefore, the Rebbe Rashab wrote a letter on 6 Adar I 5668 to the wealthy Mr. Feitel Paley, one of the respected community members in Yekaterinoslav, requesting him to work for Rabbi Levi Yitzchak's appointment as city rabbi.

At the beginning of the letter, the Rebbe Rashab expresses sorrow over Rabbi Kozevnikov's passing. The letter then deals with Rabbi Levi Yitzchak's appointment:

"And as you now have with you my relative, the famous Rabbi Levi Yitzchak Schneerson, a man who has spirit within him, and as I know him well, the crown of rabbinate suits him in all required aspects. He is a great scholar and completely God-fearing, pure in thought and gentle in temperament, possessing very good and elevated character traits, and knows how to lead with knowledge and wisdom, and they have none better than him."

After listing his qualities and talents, the Rebbe adds:

"Indeed, based on the experience I have seen in several towns that cleverly did so, they caused the city's matters to be corrupted beyond possibility of repair."

The key to his acceptance as rabbi was in the hands of Shmarya, son of a Chassid who was educated in Chassidic education but after his wedding strayed from the path and changed his name to Sergey Wolfovich. He managed a large flour mill and lumber mill. Additionally, he was one of the Zionist movement leaders in the city.

Despite his distance from the Chassidic world, it seems that in his heart remained a warm corner for the Rebbe and Chassidism, because after receiving the Rebbe Rashab's letter, he invited Rabbi Levi Yitzchak to his home for a conversation that lasted six continuous hours. The conversation left a strong impression on him and at its end he decided to fight for his appointment as city rabbi among his Zionist friends.

His struggle, which lasted about a year, finally succeeded - and Rabbi Levi Yitzchak was appointed as city rabbi. The Rebbe Rashab wrote him a thank you letter for this.

And so, at just thirty-one years old, at the end of 1909, Rabbi Levi Yitzchak came to serve as city rabbi, a position that lasted thirty years, until his arrest in 1939.

During the thirty years he served as city rabbi, he worked to fortify Jewish matters in every possible way. Right upon his arrival he gathered the community leaders and discussed with them how to strengthen the city's Jews despite the physical and spiritual difficulties. Together they made a series of decisions to strengthen the Torah institutions in the city. It was also decided on increased activity among youth and young people.

One of his first steps was to deal with the local mikvah that was no longer fit for use. He gathered the community leaders and impressed upon them the severity of the matter, but the community leaders evaded with the excuse of lack of funds in the community treasury. The young rabbi was not impressed. He stood at full height, removed his new coat that he had bought not long ago upon taking office: "Here is this coat which is worth a considerable sum, and its value will be holy as an initial contribution for building a mikvah."

Rabbi Levi Yitzchak's words made a strong impression and the community leaders began dealing with establishing a new mikvah. (See many more details about Rabbi Levi Yitzchak's rabbinate in Yekaterinoslav in the article "Dnipro").