Rav Levi Yitzchak Schneerson was born on the 18th of Nissan, 1878 in the town of Podobranka (near Gomel). His father was Rav Baruch Schneur and his mother was Rebbetzin Zelda Rachel Schneerson. Rav Levi Yitzchak was the bechor, eldest of four children: he had 2 brothers, Shmuel and Shalom Shlomo, and 1 sister, Rada Sima. His father, Rav Baruch Schneur, was a great-grandson of the third Lubavitcher Rebbe, the Tzemach Tzedek. He was a gaon in niglah and nistar and received semicha from the leading gedolim of his time, Rav Chaim Soloveitchik of Brisk and Rav Eliyahu Chaim Meizel of Lodz.
With Rav Shalom DovBer Schneerson, the fifth Lubavitcher Rebbe, serving as shadchan and matchmaker, on the 11th of Sivan, in Nikolayev at the age of 22, Rav Levi Yitzchak, married Rebbetzin Chana Yanovsky, daughter of Rav Meir Shlomo Yanovsky, the Rav of Nikolayev and a chassid of the fourth Lubavitcher Rebbe, the Rebbe Maharash.
Rav Levi Yitzchak and Rebbetzin Chana had 3 sons: Menachem Mendel, DovBer and Yisrael Aryeh Leib. The eldest, or bechor was Rav Menachem Mendel, born on the 11th of Nissan 1902, who would one day grow up to become the seventh Lubavitcher Rebbe.
After almost a decade in Nikolayev, at age 31, Rav Levi Yitzchak was called upon to serve as rav of the Ukrainian city of Yekatrinoslav (known today as Dnepropetrovsk). He served in his capacity as chief rabbi of the community for 32 years, until 1939.
