Text Size

Email Post

Print Post

Comments (31)

Save Article

Bostoner Rebi Rabbi Levi Yitzchak Horowitz Ztl praying at the Kotal File

Jerusalem - The Bostoner Rebbe, Rabbi Levi Yitzchak Horowitz, passed away at Shaarei Tzedek Hospital in Jerusalem on Sabbath.

He was 88. In the past week, his sons were called to Israel after his health deteriorated. His followers held numerous prayers for his health in the past few days.

The Bostoner Rebbe visited Gush Katif before the expulsion of the Jews who lived there. At the time he came out strongly against the plan to destroy and abandon Gush Katif, saying that “it is unthinkable that a nation that has been through the Holocaust and survived as an ember saved from the fire, will have to suffer an additional burden of edicts that weigh down heavily upon the citizen, or do him actual harm in his own country – edicts that say determine where he may not settle.”

He joined other rabbis in determining that the Torah forbids uprooting a Jew from his land. “The transfer will lead to an increase in the Arabs’ ‘appetite’ and these steps could bring more disasters upon Israel,” he warned.

Bostoner Rebbe learning - Succos 5769 Photo:Nesanel Peterman

In BaKehila Magazine, he was asked about the connection between the Disengagement and the Second Lebanon War. “This guilt is doubled,” he said. “We see today the damage brought about by our exit from Gaza. If Gaza were in our hands today, the army would have more possibilities and it could defeat terror more easily. Now they are fighting against us from two fronts, north and south. Something absurd and infuriating happened here. With our own hands we prepared the ground for a situation in which the enemies of Israel would have the upper hand. We went and gave the Gaza although they did not want it. They said in advance that they would continue to fight Israel even after the retreat. This is complete madness that cannot be understood.”

Photos below from the Levay’a that was held at his Shul Givas Pinchas at Har Nof in Jerusalem at 9:30 pm Saturday evening. Photos and video credit to Yoel Resiner

More of today's headlines

“Israel - "I sat on the bus line from Kiryat Gat to Kiryat Malachi next to a young haredi man. He started elbowing me and shoving me. He also swore at me and warned me...” Israel - Young Charedi Man Delays Bus after Refusing to Sit Next to Woman “Montreal, Canada - The Quebec Education Department has decided to end a 24-year arrangement by which it provides public funding through the Marie-Victorin CEGEP to allow...” Montreal - Quebec Ends Funding of Jewish Secondary Students