Grandson Publishes Rabbi Leibel Schapiro’s Zichronos of the Rebbe
Miami Rosh Yeshiva Rabbi Leibel Schapiro’s widely followed memories from the Rebbe and life in 770 have been transcribed and published by his grandson Mendel Levertov as a Bar Mitzvah project.
by COLlive Reporter · COLliveBy COLlive reporter
For years, Rabbi Leibel Schapiro’s firsthand memories of the Rebbe traveled from phone to phone as eagerly followed WhatsApp recordings. Now, thanks to a Bar Mitzvah project begun with his grandson Mendel Levertov, those memories have been given a permanent home in print.
During a Yom Tov visit with his grandparents, Levertov asked his grandfather, Rabbi Yehuda Leib “Leibel” Schapiro, Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshiva Gedolah Chabad in Miami Beach, Florida, to show him some of the special items he had kept from his years by the Rebbe.
Mendel is the son of Rabbi Shlomy and Chaya Levertov, Shluchim at Chabad of Paradise Valley in Greater Phoenix, Arizona.
Mendel had long been drawn to old seforim and historical items, and as Rabbi Schapiro showed him different pieces, he began sharing stories about his years as a bochur in 770, his time serving as a chozer and the many moments he had witnessed firsthand.
By then, Rabbi Schapiro’s zichronos had already become familiar to many. For several years, he had been recording his memories and sharing them through WhatsApp, where the recordings became widely circulated and eagerly followed.
Their popularity also helped encourage a broader trend of Chassidim recording and sharing their own firsthand memories, preserving details and experiences that might otherwise have been lost.
During that visit, Mendel and his grandfather began discussing the idea of taking those recordings one step further, transcribing them and preparing them as a book in connection with Mendel’s Bar Mitzvah.
Mendel became directly involved in the project, helping transcribe the recordings and prepare them for print.
In the process, what began as a Bar Mitzvah project developed into something much larger: an effort to preserve an important piece of Lubavitch history for another generation.
The resulting sefer, Zichronos – Volume One, presents Rabbi Schapiro’s firsthand recollections from the years he spent by the Rebbe.
His memories range from significant farbrengens and maamarim to conversations, halachic discussions and the smaller moments that together recreate something of the atmosphere of 770.
Much of the richness of Zichronos lies in the details that rarely make it into formal transcripts: the atmosphere of farbrengens, the way chazarah and early hanochos were prepared, the Rebbe’s practical guidance in halachah, and the everyday hanhagos and exchanges that shaped life in 770.
Together, these memories offer not just stories, but a vivid picture of Lubavitch life around the Rebbe in those years.
For Mendel, working on the project also gave the Bar Mitzvah itself a deeper meaning.
The process taught him about the Rebbe, life in 770 and the experiences his grandfather was privileged to witness, while giving him a personal way to grow in Torah, yiras Shamayim and hiskashrus.
A small batch of Volume One was printed as a teshurah in honor of Mendel’s Bar Mitzvah.
But the project is only beginning.
This first volume represents just a portion of Rabbi Schapiro’s recorded memories, with hundreds of recordings still waiting to be transcribed. Additional volumes are planned as the work continues.
What began with a young boy’s interest in the stories and artifacts his grandfather had preserved has become an intergenerational project, taking memories that had traveled from phone to phone and giving them a permanent home in print.
The first volume is available for purchase on Amazon.com
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