Deitsch, a’h, was born eighty-six years ago on Tzom Gedalia 5676 (1916) in Dokshitz, to his father, R’ Menachem Mendel, and his mother, Hinda. R’ Menachem Mendel was a descendent of R’ Yekusiel of Dokshitz, a well-known Chassid of the Tzemach Tzedek.

R’ Yekusiel was known for his exceedingly warm ahavas Yisroel, and the Rebbe Rayatz would refer to him in his talks and note his ahavas Yisroel. R’ Yekusiel merited to bequeath his love for every Jew to his descendents.

R’ Menachem Mendel put a great deal into the chinuch of his son, Dovid, and implanted in him a fear of Heaven and punctiliousness in all matters of Yiddishkeit.

R’ Menachem Mendel’s home in Charkov was large and constantly open to guests. Many of the tmimim who learned in Tomchei Tmimim of Charkov were his guests and received full room and board with him. R’ Itche der Masmid was also a regular guest.

As he grew older, R’ Dovid learned in an underground Tomchei Tmimim along with his younger brother, R’ Sholom Yeshaya, a’h, where they were educated among the gedolei ha’Chassidim and by the best mashpiim. For the rest of his life, R’ Dovid would speak yearningly of the time he learned in yeshiva, of the farbrengens with the mashpiim R’ Yechezkel Feigen and the well-known Chassid R’ Zalman Moshe HaYitzchaki. He would tell about the shiurim he heard from the rosh yeshiva, R’ Yuda Eber (may Hashem avenge his blood). It was there in yeshiva that R’ Dovid’s Chassidic character was formed.

When the Chassidim heard that the Rebbe Rayatz was going to leave Russia immediately after Simchas Torah 5688 (1927), many of them traveled to Leningrad to be with the Rebbe. R’ Dovid was not yet bar mitzva at the time, but he too joined the Chassidim who went to take leave of the Rebbe.

In 5697 (1937) R’ Dovid married Sarah Weinevsky from the Chassidic town of Zhlobin.

During World War II, as the cursed Nazis approached the Charkov district, many Chassidim fled deep into Russia. At first they remained in Samarkand for two years. The Deitsch family was among the refugees.

There was a terrible shortage of food in Samarkand at the time, and many people collapsed and died of starvation. R’ Menachem Mendel and his wife Hinda did what they could to save Jews from hunger.

R’ Dovid would relate: “My father sent me to get large pots and various foodstuff, and he said to me, ‘Dovid! You must do everything in order to save these Jews!’”

With his mysterious talent, Dovid managed to obtain food that wasn’t even available on the black market. His mother prepared tasty and nutritious soup with this food he brought her. They placed the large pots in the courtyard of their home and hundreds upon hundreds of people would stand in line to get a portion of soup, which was graciously given to each one. This is what the Deitsch home provided throughout the war, thus truly deserving to be called a home of hachnasas orchim.

Many Jews who stayed in Samarkand during the war later related how Mrs. Hinda Deitsch’s soup saved their lives. Many of them remained unaware of the fact that the soup was made possible by the tireless efforts of her son, Dovid, who established connections with Uzbeki supervisors and bribed them. He often got into trouble for this, yet he persisted to the point of mesirus nefesh.

This chesed operation existed for two years. Then the family moved to Tashkent, where R’ Dovid continued with his acts of chesed and help for the Yeshivas Tomchei Tmimim of Tashkent.

The Deitsch family left Russia via Lemburg after the war during the famous exodus from that country in 5706-7 (Lvov). Much money was needed to help Lubavitcher families who lacked the funds for this trip. R’ Dovid related that he gave away his entire fortune and all their silver and gold, and left Russia empty-handed.

When the family left Russia they tried to obtain visas for the United States. Relatives in Connecticut promised them financial support. It took years to arrange, but they finally received their visas. In Tammuz 5710 (a few months after the passing of the Rebbe Rayatz) they arrived in the U.S. and settled in Connecticut near their relatives.

As soon as they arrived, R’ Dovid tried his luck in business and was extremely successful.

As soon as he arrived in the U.S., R’ Dovid attached himself to the Rebbe MH”M. The Rebbe reciprocated and was greatly mekarev him. R’ Dovid related, “In my first yechidus with the Rebbe, I told the Rebbe: ‘Rebbe! I give myself over to the Rebbe to be his soldier! If the Rebbe has any opposition, I am ready to go out against them and fight them!’”

When the Rebbe heard this he smiled and said, “You must hope that we won’t have to come to that point.”

R’ Boruch Sholom Cohen of New Haven tells of how R’ Dovid became wealthy:

It was at the Yud-Tes Kislev farbrengen 5718 (1958). The Rebbe made an appeal for Kfar Chabad Beis, or as the Rebbe referred to it: shikun chadash b’Kfar Chabad. The Rebbe asked that everybody give “according to his means and more than his means.” The Rebbe added, “Since this appeal (on Yud-Tes Kislev) is unusual, there will be something else unusual about it: At every appeal I take what is given to me, whether I am satisfied with the amount or I think more should have been given. This time, however,” the Rebbe continued, “if I see that more ought to be given, I will tell each one what he should add!”

Then the Rebbe promised: “Regarding tz’daka in general it says, ‘and test me, please, with this,’ especially tz’daka for Eretz Yisroel, which takes precedence over all charities, and especially since this is connected with Yud-Tes Kislev, the Alter Rebbe’s Yom HaGeula. Thus, certainly Hashem will repay each one many times over, at least four times the amount that was given [as it says, ‘four portions will be yours’], and they will see this with eyes of flesh!”

At the conclusion of the sicha, everybody present gave the Rebbe a card upon which was written the amount each one promised to give. The Rebbe told many Chassidim to give double what they had promised, or even triple or quadruple the amount.

To one Chassid the Rebbe said, “He needs hatzlacha, so he should give X times over!” (and the Rebbe specified the amount he should give). To another Chassid the Rebbe said, “He needs parnasa, so he should give X times over.” Regarding one Chassid (for whom the Rebbe doubled and tripled the amount), the Rebbe said to another Chassid, “I don’t know how he’ll be able to obtain this amount, but it says, ‘Mine is the silver and Mine is the gold.’” To another Chassid the Rebbe said, “Let us demand the amount from the Alter Rebbe!”

Throughout this time the Rebbe was extremely joyous, and he began a number of niggunim between announcements.

When it came R’ Dovid Deitsch’s turn, and he had taken on an amount greater than he could handle (as the Rebbe had said), the Rebbe told him to quadruple the amount. It was a tremendous sum for those days, which R’ Dovid had no way of obtaining, but R’ Dovid was a Chassid and he accepted his charge with utter devotion.

At the end of the appeal the Rebbe announced: “I want the payments to begin tomorrow on Friday, Chaf Kislev (Erev Shabbos VaYeishev), until Shabbos begins, so that it is still connected with Yud-Tes Kislev.” And the Rebbe announced a few times: “After all, today is Yud-Tes Kislev, which is an eis ratzon (auspicious time).”

After the farbrengen, R’ Dovid went home to Connecticut without knowing what his next move should be. Where would he get such a huge amount of money? He finally decided to obtain a loan from the bank.

The next morning he went to the bank and asked for a loan, which to his delight he received immediately. R’ Dovid went back to New York and gave the Rebbe’s secretaries the full amount before Shabbos, although he still had no idea how he would repay this loan to the bank.

Shortly thereafter, R’ Dovid, who dealt in plastic, heard about a huge warehouse of plastic that had had a fire in which all the rolls of plastic were burned. The owners of the warehouse, who wanted to get rid of the burned plastic, offered it all to him at an extremely low price.

After receiving the Rebbe’s consent to the deal, R’ Dovid bought the warehouse with all its contents, even though he had no idea what he could do with the burnt plastic. When he went to check the contents of the warehouse, he discovered that the most expensive rolls of plastic were in perfect condition. He immediately hired workers to remove the outer, burnt layers, cutting each roll on both sides, and this is how he saved almost all of the plastic and was able to sell it.

The money he earned from the sale of the rolls was more than quadruple the amount he had given to the Rebbe! This is how R’ Dovid became extremely wealthy, all in the merit of fulfilling the Rebbe’s request with utter bittul. From that point on, R’ Dovid had the privilege of giving the Rebbe vast sums of money.

When R’ Michoel Teitelbaum founded Yeshivas Oholei Torah, a mosad chinuch al taharas ha’kodesh, with no secular studies, the Rebbe told R’ Dovid that he together with R’ Michoel Teitelbaum should carry the yeshiva on their shoulders. Indeed, R’ Dovid fully devoted himself to Oholei Torah, and aside from the huge amounts he himself donated, he got business contacts of his to donate, too. He even got gentiles that he knew through business to donate money to Oholei Torah, and they thanked him for the privilege.

Each year R’ Dovid would organize Oholei Torah’s dinner, and would invest a great deal of money and energy into making it a success. In recent years he financed Oholei Torah’s new building since the old building could no longer contain its many students. The new building was named after his parents as the Mendel and Hinda Deitsch Campus.

This year too, R’ Dovid took part in building the beautiful new zal for the older boys. The magnificent new beis midrash has room for 450 talmidim!

For decades R’ Dovid and his wife Sarah closely followed Oholei Torah’s development. The Deitsch family took a personal interest in every detail as parents would for their children. This is why R’ Dovid and Sarah acquired the appellations “father” and “mother” of Oholei Torah.

R’ Dovid merited to see the fruits of his tremendous labor on behalf of the yeshiva. Oholei Torah is the leader among all other Chabad yeshivos in the world. Every Chassidishe bachur sees it as a privilege to belong to the yeshiva, which today numbers 1,500 talmidim. Graduates go on shlichus to strengthen Chabad yeshivos around the world. Most shluchim around the world today who are preparing the world to greet Moshiach are graduates of Oholei Torah.

Aside from adopting Oholei Torah as a pet project, many other mosdos were the beneficiaries of R’ Dovid’s ongoing support.

R’ Dovid didn’t talk much about himself, though he once said, “At one of my yechiduyos with the Rebbe, the Rebbe told me: ‘I want to be a partner with you in your business, and the portion belonging to me from this partnership I want for Oholei Torah.’”

Somebody once suggested a deal to R’ Dovid that seemed very promising. As he always did, R’ Dovid asked the Rebbe whether he should go ahead with it. The Rebbe told him it wasn’t worthwhile. R’ Dovid accepted this, but asked what he should say to the person who had offered him the deal. The Rebbe told him to say that his partner did not agree.

Later on this deal turned sour and all the other investors lost their money. The person who had offered him the deal told R’ Dovid, “You have a very smart partner!”

In the winter of 5725, the Rebbe asked that Likkutei Torah be printed in memory of his mother, Rebbetzin Chana, a’h. The Rebbe compiled a list of ten Chassidim who would have the privilege of financing the printing of this work. The Rebbe gave the list to Rabbi Chadakov, who told these Chassidim about the Rebbe’s request.

When word of this got out, other Chassidim also wanted a share in the expenses of the printing, but the Rebbe did not agree. One of the ten Chassidim was R’ Dovid Deitsch. After it was printed, the Rebbe personally gave each of them a copy with his handwritten dedication inscribed within.

In 5729-5730 when many Lubavitchers left Russia, the Rebbe founded Nachalat Har Chabad in Eretz Yisroel. At one of his yechiduyos with the Rebbe, R’ Dovid asked what he could do to help the Chassidim who were arriving in Eretz Yisroel. His intention was to find out how much money the Rebbe wanted him to give, but the Rebbe said, “I don’t want money from you. I want you to make a branch of your factory in Eretz Yisroel so that the new immigrants will have work.”

R’ Dovid immediately got to work on this project. He hired someone to buy a piece of land on his behalf upon which the factory would be built, but due to Israeli bureaucracy the matter dragged on for a long time. The Rebbe continued urging him on, and finally R’ Dovid and his son-in-law, R’ Meir Zeiler, founded the factory in Nachalat Har Chabad. His son-in-law even moved there, according to the Rebbe’s directive. Despite many pessimistic prognostications about the business, R’ Dovid stood strong in order to fulfill the Rebbe’s wishes. Baruch Hashem, today the company provides a source of livelihood for hundreds of families.

In 5736 the Rebbe founded the Yeshiva Gedola of New Haven, and R’ Dovid took on the temporary support of the yeshiva until it could get on its feet. In the meantime, the burden of support fell upon R’ Dovid and his wife, who were utterly devoted to the talmidim.

When two years had passed, the yeshiva encountered difficulties and was about to close. R’ Dovid reported this to Rabbi Chadakov, who passed the news on to the Rebbe. The Rebbe responded by saying that he wouldn’t allow “mainer a mosad” (my mosad) to close.

Rabbi Chadakov explained to R’ Dovid what pain it would cause the Rebbe should the yeshiva close, so R’ Dovid took on the full support of the yeshiva from that point on. R’ Dovid enjoyed the fruits of his efforts and merited to support a yeshiva that produced hundreds of talmidim, who, along with their assiduous learning, are also involved in hafatzas ha’Yahadus and hafatzas ha’maayanos throughout Connecticut and beyond.

The yeshiva is successfully run by the rosh yeshiva, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchok Kalmanson, and mashpia R’ Yonason Reinitz.

Around 5740, as he approached the age of 65, R’ Dovid thought it was time to do something he had longed to do for years, which was to sit and learn all day in the yeshiva in New Haven and give over the running of his business affairs to his sons and sons-in-law.

Being a Chassid, he didn’t make this move without consulting the Rebbe. When the Rebbe heard his idea he responded in amazement: “Ver bet dir lernen? (Who asked you to learn?) Your mission in this world is not to learn Torah but to give tz’daka, so you must continue working so you can give more tz’daka!”

R’ Dovid accepted this with kabbalas ol, but wondered whether this meant he should abandon his regular Torah schedule. He asked Rabbi Chadakov about this, who in turn asked the Rebbe. The Rebbe said that he hadn’t meant that; he should certainly continue with his regular shiurim. The Rebbe meant he shouldn’t work less in order to sit and learn, for that was not his mission in life.

R’ Dovid had a sensitive heart and helped many in need in addition to supporting mosdos. Many young men owe their livelihood to R’ Dovid, who helped them establish themselves in business. This article could not begin to enumerate all the many acts of chesed R’ Dovid did for individuals.

R’ Dovid excelled in the trait of humility, and didn’t allow himself to be honored or allow his prodigious accomplishments to be broadcast, as is customary in the United States. As a result of the Chassidic education he received, one could see that the honor he received truly pained him. Even this publication got it from R’ Dovid for daring to publicize his many accomplishments.

R’ Dovid wanted to attend the wedding of his grandson in London, but his health wasn’t good at the time, so he asked the Rebbe what to do. The Rebbe told him he could go, but he had to be b’simcha. During his stay in London, one of the Rebbe’s secretaries called him a number of times to remind him to be b’simcha.

After Gimmel Tammuz, R’ Dovid heard a Chassid questioning whether the Rebbe is with us or not. R’ Dovid said, “What are you talking about?! I see the Rebbe every day!”

R’ Dovid would tell about the dreams he had in which he saw and heard the Rebbe.

On Erev Shavuos 5758, R’ Dovid fell ill, unable to breathe. The doctors gave up hope and told him he would live a maximum of only a week or two more. One doctor said a certain operation could be done, but the chances of it failing and his dying on the operating table were 90%, so it was better to leave things as they were.

The family wrote to the Rebbe and put the letter in the Igros Kodesh. The answer said it was worth doing the operation, and the Rebbe added that the doctors were given permission to heal, and not, ch’v, to despair.

The family pressured the doctors to perform the operation, and with the Rebbe’s bracha, the operation succeeded in a miraculous fashion. R’ Dovid slowly recovered and lived another three years!

After Shavuos of this year, R’ Dovid became very weak. His mind was clear until the end, but he was extremely weak. On Shabbos Ki Seitzei, 13 Elul at Mincha time, after celebrating the Sheva Brachos of his grandson, Zev Sandman, R’ Dovid passed away.

The funeral took place on Sunday and passed by the beautiful mosad he established - Oholei Torah/Oholei Menachem on Eastern Parkway - where over five hundred talmidim of the mesivta and beis midrash with their teachers and mashpiim were waiting (the elementary school students were still on vacation). When the aron arrived at the yeshiva, R’ Dovid’s friend and partner in avodas ha’kodesh, R’ Michoel Teitelbaum, along with all the talmidim, said some chapters of T’hillim. From there, the aron was taken to 770, where many residents of the community led by the rabbanim accompanied it. From there the procession went to the cemetery of Agudas Chabad in New York, where the deceased was buried near the Ohel.

Throughout the Shiva, many directors of mosdos, friends of R’ Dovid, and numerous Jews who were helped by R’ Dovid throughout the years came to console the family. The family learned for the first time of the many acts of chesed R’ Dovid had concealed from his family.

The merit of his good deeds will stand on behalf of his family, and the z’chus of his tz’daka (“great is tz’daka for it hastens the Geula”) should quickly bring about the revelation of the Rebbe MH”M, when the prophecy of “arise and sing those who dwell in the dust,” will be fulfilled, with R’ Dovid among them.

“I don’t know how he’ll be able to obtain this amount, but it says, ‘Mine is the silver and Mine is the gold.’”

“Who asked you to learn? Your mission in this world is not to learn Torah but to give tz’daka, so you must continue working so you can give more tz’daka!”

...it was worth doing the operation, and the Rebbe added that the doctors were given permission to heal, and not, ch’v, to despair.