About
Biography
A Chassid Made in America!
This is the story of a chassid, a chassid whose life begins and ends in Illinois, a chassid who devoted his life to bringing the light of Torah and chassidus to his hometown. It is a story of 59 years of commitment to the Rebbe, Chabad, and the Jewish people.
Childhood
The story of Rabbi Daniel Yitzchok Moscowitz begins with his parents, Frank (Ephraim) and Cynthia (Tzivia) Moscowitz, two school teachers who worked hard to build a warm chassidic home in the Windy City.
Under the influence of Rabbi Solomon S. Hecht, shaliach of the Previous Rebbe—Rabbi Joseph I. Schneerson, of righteous memory—Ephraim had studied as a teen in the nascent Chabad yeshivah in Brooklyn, N.Y for four years. Afterward he went on to serve in the Army.
Cynthia was raised in the West Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago, where her father was the first president of what was then the neighborhood’s only synagogue. Always curious, she asked to attend Hebrew school, even though she was the only girl there.
The two met in Roosevelt College in 1951, where they were both studying education. They soon became engaged.
Through her husband-to-be, she came to know Rabbi and Rebbetzin. Hecht, whom the couple came to regard as personal mentors and very dear friends.
While preparing for her wedding, Cynthia met Rebbetzin Chava Devorah (Evelyn) Shusterman, whose husband, Rabbi Herschel (Harold) Shusterman, was the rabbi of the prestigious B’nei Ruven synagogue. She would later recall how impressed she was by the young woman, who was then expecting a child and freezing food to serve in the event that there would be a bris. Yet, she took the time to meet with a young couple preparing for their wedding.
Three years after their marriage, on 8 Sivan, 5714 (June 9, 1954), they were blessed with a son, whom they named Daniel Yitzchok.
