The 20th of Av marks the anniversary of the passing of Rabbi Levi Yitzchak Schneerson (1878-1944), father of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel, of blessed memory.
Rabbi Levi Yitzchak was born on the 18th of Nisan in the city of Podrovna, the son of Rabbi Baruch Schneur and Rebbetzin Zelda Rachel Schneerson. His great-great-grandfather was the third Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson.
In 1900 he married Rebbetzin Jana Yanovski, daughter of Rabbi Meir Shlomo, rabbi of the city of Nikolaev. In 1902 their first son was born, who would later become the seventh Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel.
Throughout his life, Rabbi Levi Yitzchak tirelessly and fearlessly fought for the spread of Judaism in communist Russia. After serving for 30 years as rabbi of Yekaterinoslav (now Dnipropetrovsk), he was arrested by the government for his efforts against the Russian policy of eradicating the practice of Judaism. After a year of interrogation and torture, he was sentenced to internal exile in Russia, where he died in extreme poverty and illness in 1944.
For more details, see Biography of Rebetzin Jana