LEVINE, CHAIM ABRAHAM DOV-BER HAKOHEN (“THE MALACH”)

R. Chaim Abraham Dov-Ber ben Shneur Zalman Levine ("The Malach") (1861-1938), a native of Ilya (Belarus), was one of the foremost Chassidim of Lubavitch. He was engaged by the fifth Rebbe, R. Shalom Ber Schneersohn (Rasha"b)(1860-1920) as private tutor to his only son R. Joseph Isaac (1880-1950), who would eventually succeed his father as Rebbe. However, the relationship suffered a severe rupture when the Malach was outraged that his young charge allegedly displayed interests outside of his Torah studies. A rift developed between the parties and from then on, the Malach regarded the contemporary leadership of Chabad as illegitimate, restricting his loyalty to the earlier generations of the dynasty. In 1923, Rabbi Levine emigrated to America where he served a congregation in the Bronx. R. Shraga Feivel Mendlowitz, principal of Yeshiva Torah Vodaas, sent some of the students to study Chassidism with Rabbi Levine. The Malach had a mesmerizing effect, influencing these American-born youngsters to reject anything resembling Western lifestyle, and to devote themselves exclusively to Torah. This contingent of followers of the Malach (who became known as the "Malachim") eventually created their own community in the Williamsburgh section of Brooklyn. See further B. Sobel, The M'lochim, A Study of a Religious Community (1956)