Charlie Buttons

Tzaddik Halevi Nassofer, (July 9, 1944 - May 8, 2025) known as “Charlie Buttons,” was a longtime Crown Heights resident. His father was Yisroel Eliezer Halevi, and his mother was Masha Ruchel.

Nassofer always stood out in the sea of black-hatter Chassidim at Chabad Lubavitch World Headquarters—770 Eastern Parkway. He was lovingly known as Charlie Buttons for the wearable buttons and pins stuck to his head covering. Most of these pins were Jewish-themed, such as the Rebbe’s 10 Mitzvah campaigns (Tefillin and Shabbos), the Tzivos Hashem youth movement, Gan Israel summer camps, and even one from the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA).

Charlie, always wearing a white shirt and overall jeans, was treated with much respect and even affection by the Rebbe. He merited to bring a smile to the Rebbe’s face many times, as evident from the hours of video footage taken at the Rebbe’s Farbrengens, Kos Shel Brachos, Dollars and davening, and Lag BaOmer parades. It is said that Charlie loved making an L shape as a hand signal for “Lubavitcher Rebbe.”

“During the Farbrengens at 770, after the Rebbe would finish a Sicha, the entire crowd would shout ‘Amen!,'” one Crown Heights resident reminisced. “And each time, just as the crowd’s ‘Amen’ would die down, Charlie would shout his own ‘Amen!’ as loud as he could, booming through the entire Shul.”

There were rare occasions, such as a farbrengen in 2010, when Charlie showed up at 770 wearing a black suit, red yarmulka, and bowtie. He told the crowd that he was invited to a wedding in Williamsburg, “so I’m wearing this costume.”

A regular at Murphy’s Shul in Crown Heights, Charlie would bring joy to many when he appeared—often uninvited but always welcomed—at Sholom Zachors, L’chaim engagement parties, and weddings in the neighborhood. He was described as bringing much joy and laughter to all.