Memory Lane: Rav Yosef Pinchos Levinson, The Chizever Rov

One of the great “Alte Mirers” to survive the war and transmit the aura of the Mir to Boro Park of yesteryear was the Tchizever Rov, a go’on atzum who graced the Mirer minyan on 54th Street, and was a well-known personality in the neighborhood until his passing in the year 1981. 

Today, we take a glimpse into his life, which took him from the shtetlach of Poland, to the Mir and Boro Park. 

Tiktin

Rav Yosef Pinchos was born in the town of Tiktin in the year 1902. His father, Reb Noach Levinson, was one of the prominent balebatim in the town. His grandfather was the famed ga’on and tzaddik, Reb Yanke’le, a mekubal whose kever would be frequented by the locals after his passing. 

In his youth, he learned in the elite group of Rav Berel Leib Glickman a Gerer chossid who was known as the greatest lamdan in the city. He imbued in young Yosef Pinchos Torah together with yiras Shomayim. Many of his pupils went on to become legends in the yeshios of Mir (Rav Zeidel Simiatitzky was another one of his graduates), Radin, Slabodka, Telz, and others. 

From Tiktin, he went to Bialistok, where he learned under Rav Moshe Soloveitchik, and in 1921, he arrived in the Mir, where he would become a beloved talmid of Rav Eliezer Yehuda Finkel, Rav Eliyahu Baruch Kamei, and the Mashgiach, Rav Yeruchom, zt”l. 

Although he was considered an “elterer bachur,” and widely respected, he always went out of his way to make the younger, newer arrivals feel comfortable. He also instituted chaburos for learning during times that were neglected, such as erev Shabbos, and the chaburah included the greatest names of the Mir. He learned for a short while by Rav Baruch Ber, and visited the Chofetz Chaim and Rav Chaim Ozer on numerous occasions, in addition to letters that he exchanged with them. 

In 1934, he married Rebbetzin Grune Fradel, the daughter of Shmuel Dovid Zavladover, the rov of Tchizeve. In 1938, his father-in-law became incapacitated, and Rav Yosef Pinchos stepped into his role as rov of Tchizeve. 

With the outbreak of WWII, the escaped to Vilna, where he was mekurav to the Brisker Rov and Rav Chaim Ozer. From there, they left for Kobe and later to Shanghai, where through all of the pain, and the terrible news from back home, Rav Yosef Pinchos continued learning with intensity. In 1947, the Levinson’s came to the America, where Rav Yosef Pinchos had a position as a rov, and spent his days and night learning and corresponding with rabbonim, including the Rogachover Ga’on. 

Boro Park 

As noted, Rav Yosef Pinchos was among the ‘pnei’ of the Mirer Minyan in Boro Park, a place where the rischa d’Oraisah of the Mir continued unabated among the lions who emerged. In addition to his brilliance and his middos, the Chiziver Rov was known for his sense of humor. But Torah was his life, and it was to this endeavor that he dedicated all his years. 

“Limud haTorah was his bread and butter,” writes his son. “He was a great masmid and shakdon almost until his last breath on this earth, dedicating his days and nights in this pursuit. He would say—in the name of gedolim from the previous generation—that a masmid is not someone who merely learns many hours in a row, but someone who also utilizes even five spare minutes for learning Torah. 

Rav Yosef Pinchos was niftar on 29 Adar, 1981, while wearing his tefillin—leaving this world enveloped in holiness. A great levaya was held at the Mirer Minyan, where a dwindling group of his chaverim gathered amng the massive crowd to give kovod acharon to the Tchizever Rov. He was eulogized by great Rabbonim and Roshei Yeshiva. He was later brought to Yerushalayim, where a large levaya was held at the Mirer Yeshiva, and later buried on Har Hazeisim, in the section of the Mirer Talmidim, following a lifetime dedicated to Torah, and decades spent illuminating the community of Boro Park of yesteryear.