Rabbi Yehuda Leib (Leibel) Posner, a trailblazing figure in the world of Chabad and one of the earliest Chabad emissaries, passed away on Tuesday at the age of 97.
Born in 1928 in Mandatory Palestine, Leibel was the second child of Rabbi Sholom and Chaya Posner, who had recently fled the Soviet regime. At the behest of the Frierdiker Rebbe, the family soon moved to the United States, settling in New Jersey. The Rebbe reassured the concerned parents that their children would continue to grow within the traditions of Chassidus.
Even as a child, Leibel’s commitment to Torah education was evident. By the time he was seven or eight, he and his brother were living with a Chassidic family in Brooklyn so they could attend a proper yeshiva. Eventually, the Posners relocated to Chicago, where the boys enrolled in the local Jewish school.
When the Frierdiker Rebbe arrived in the U.S. from war-ravaged Europe, he established a yeshivah and a mesivta. Young Leibel was sent from Chicago to join the program and became the first out-of-town student in his age group.
Shortly before his bar mitzvah, which took place in Chicago during Pesach, Leibel and his brother Zalman had a private audience with the Frierdiker Rebbe. The Rebbe inquired about their travel arrangements, ensuring they would be warm and able to pray and don tefillin on the road. He praised their spiritual progress and said with great affection, “You are my children. You are physical children of your parents and you are my spiritual children.”
At just 19 years old, Leibel was tapped for a groundbreaking mission. In 1948, he traveled across New Jersey, Delaware, and Pennsylvania on a route dubbed the “milk train,” stopping at every station to meet Jews, offer Torah books, and promote Jewish publications.
This innovative outreach was paralleled by his brother Zalman’s mission to post-war Europe, where he and Mendel Baumgarten ministered to Holocaust survivors and refugees in displaced persons camps.
Before Leibel’s journey, the ailing Frierdiker Rebbe granted him a private audience and gave him heartfelt advice: “When you meet another person, make sure that you look for his strong points. At the same time, do not overlook his weak points… We need to see a person’s fine qualities in big letters, and take note of their shortcomings with small letters,”—so they might be gently corrected. The Rebbe gave him a blessing and sent him off.
On that trip, Leibel once encountered a skeptical rabbi who demanded, “Who is Lubavitch to conduct a census?” Reflecting on the moment years later, Rabbi Posner would chuckle and say, “Today, no one would ask such a question.”
As a young bochur, Leibel stood out for his diligence and his learning under great rabbonim such as Rav Yisroel Zev Gustman.
After the histalkus of the Frierdiker Rebbe, Rabbi Posner was sent to California to strengthen Jewish life and practice there.
In 1950, he became engaged to Thirza. Their wedding, on 30 Shevat, was profoundly meaningful—it was the first wedding at which the Rebbe officiated and the first celebration he participated in following the loss of his father-in-law.
After the wedding, the newlyweds headed west to Los Angeles, where Leibel had been sent months prior. There, they launched a new model of shlichus. Unlike earlier emissaries who typically took on formal rabbinic posts or educational roles, the Posners were tasked with taking a broader view—responding to the needs of the entire Jewish community.
In 1953, they moved to Marinette, Wisconsin, where Rabbi Posner wore many hats: he served as rabbi, shochet, and Torah educator, ministering to a vast region that included the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Former students would later remember him as a bridge between worlds: a bearded, observant rabbi who could throw a baseball and make Yiddishkeit approachable.
“He taught us always to do what’s right, it does not matter what conventional wisdom is,” remembered Charles Lavine, a former student and now a New York State Assemblyman. “I loved him.”
Rabbi Posner’s educational journey brought him next to southern New Jersey, then to the famed Yeshiva Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch in New York. There, the Chassidic rabbi taught with a deep appreciation for the teachings of German-Jewish luminaries, a synthesis welcomed by the school’s leader, Rabbi Dr. Joseph Breuer.
Other roles included serving as teacher and principal in the Bronx Chabad school, dean at Beth Rivkah in Brooklyn, and fulfilling critical kashrus roles as a shochet and mashgiach.
In his later years, his greatest joy came from learning and teaching Torah. He would frequently share insights on the parshah or the upcoming Yom Tov, delighting in the chance to offer a fresh perspective.
After many years in Boro Park, he spent his final decades in Crown Heights, where he was surrounded by children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, who visited regularly from around the globe.
He is survived by his children: Chana Sonnenfeld of Nachlas Har Chabad, Israel; Rabbi Yosef Yitzchok Posner of Skokie, IL; Rabbi Uri Posner and Rabbi Yechezkel Posner of Crown Heights; Rabbi Shmuel Posner of Boston, MA; Mrs. Brocha Sapochkinsky of Westlake, CA; and Mrs. Elisheva Mishulovin of Beitar, Israel. He is also survived by numerous grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and great-great-grandchildren.
His surviving siblings are Bassie Garelik of Milan, Italy, and Sara Rivka Sasonkin of Taanach, Israel.
His beloved wife Thirza predeceased him in 2016.

{Matzav.com}