HaRav Simcha Zissel Halevi Levovitz (1908–2001) was a Lithuanian-born American rabbi and founder of the first Mesivta (Jewish High School) in

Boro Park Borough Park (also spelled Boro Park) is a neighborhood in the southwestern part of the borough (New York City), borough of Brooklyn, in New York City. The neighborhood is bordered by Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, Bensonhurst to the south, Dyker Heigh ...

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, and a teacher of thousands of students.

Biography

He was born in 1908 in Ozovnet,

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

. His father, Musar movement leader Rabbi

Yeruchom Levovitz Rav Yeruchom Levovitz (; – 1936), also known by his hundreds of students simply as The Mashgiach, was a famous mashgiach ruchani and baal mussar (Jewish Ethics) at the Mir Yeshiva in Belarus. Early life R' Yeruchom Levovitz was born in 187 ...

, was the spiritual leader of Yeshivas Mir. Levovitz studied in the yeshivas of

Grodno Grodno, or Hrodna, is a city in western Belarus. It is one of the oldest cities in Belarus. The city is located on the Neman, Neman River, from Minsk, about from the Belarus–Poland border, border with Poland, and from the Belarus–Lithua ...

, Telz and Brisk. At the start of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

he fled to the United States and settled in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

where he married the daughter of Hartwig Naftali Carlebach and sister of

Shlomo Carlebach Shlomo Carlebach (; January 14, 1925 – October 20, 1994), known as Reb Shlomo to his followers, was an American rabbi and musician nicknamed "the Singing Rabbi". Although his roots lay in traditional Orthodox yeshivot, he branched out to c ...

. After his marriage he founded the first yeshiva high school in

. He also published the writings of his father,

, and of the rabbi after whom he was named,

Simcha Zissel Ziv Simcha Zissel Ziv Broida (; 1824–1898), also known as Simhah Zissel Ziv or the ''Alter of Kelm'' (the Elder of Kelm), was one of the foremost students of Yisrael Salanter and one of the early leaders of the Musar movement. He is best known as ...

. He and his wife had three sons, all rabbis, and one daughter.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Levovitz, Simcha Zissel Halevi 1908 births 2001 deaths Musar movement 20th-century American rabbis