Issachar Levi Schneerson

Born on September 24, 1954, in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, as the illegitimate (and only) son of grandrabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson OBM of Chabad-Lubavitch in New York and a gentile girl of 17. ...view moreBorn on September 24, 1954, in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, as the illegitimate (and only) son of grandrabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson OBM of Chabad-Lubavitch in New York and a gentile girl of 17. He was raised by gentile foster parents. When he was 17 his foster father was killed in an explosion at a Dow Chemical plant and he was contacted by a shalíach (emissary) of his father. He visited his father in New York a few years later but he continued to live in The Netherlands and his father remained in New York: his existence was kept a secret. As an adult Issachar Levi served in the Dutch police and in the Dutch secret service. In his spare time he studied Jewish law and in 1976 his father ordained him as a rabbi. Afterwards he lived in Israel for 18 years. There he worked as a machine operator in plastic factories, a kindergarten assistant, a scooter messenger, a warehouse clerk, a university research assistant and a software tester. Back in The Netherlands in 2006 he founded the Open Jewish Congregation Klal Israel (www.klal-israel.nl) in Delft and in 2008 he received a second ordination from a Jerusalem rabbi, after which he agreed to be installed as the rabbi of Klal Israel. In December 2014 he resigned and became a fulltime author. He published six books in Dutch before publishing his first book in English in 2013: 'Rabbi Kameleon'. In this book he told the amazing story of his life for the first time and by doing so he claimed his rightful place in the Chabad dynasty. Rabbi Issachar Levi Schneerson has been married to an Israeli woman since 1987 and together they have a son, a daughter and a granddaughter.view less