Title: Especially For You: Living A Life Of Meaning And Joy
By: Chana Levkovitz
Feldheim
As I was wrapping up this article on Especially For You, a book to help one grow in emunah and bitachon, live with simcha while dealing with life’s challenges, and build one’s love for Hashem, I learned that the author, Rebbetzin Chana Levkovitz, had just lost a son. Despite the challenge, Rebbetzin Levkovitz was kind enough to answer my questions shortly after shivah to prove to the world that despite excruciating pain, loss, trials, and tests, Chaim Yitzchak ben Dovid Dov, a 22-year-old newly married young man, would want the world to know that everything comes from Hashem. He battled a terrible illness but knew that everything is for the best.
Chaim Yitzchok Levkovitz chose to live a life of closeness and connection to Hashem. He was a model of true simchas hachaim and deveikus with Hashem, traits which the hospital staff could not fathom. Each staff member fought over who would take care of him. He wanted everyone to be happy. His love for mitzvos and every Jew surpassed his pain; he never complained. Chaim Yitzchok appreciated his mother’s guidance and chose the path of meaning and joy.
With this in mind, we can connect more fully to terms like “it’s bashert,” and stay strong.
The first step to true faith in Hashem is to understand that everything is from Him. We need to understand that all the pain and anguish we experience is for the good. We then need to pave a path forward with this knowledge in our hearts. This is why the Hebrew edition of Especially For You is called B’miyuchad Bishvilach – your path is paved especially for you and your benefit.
Rebbetzin Levkovitz suffered the loss of her nearly two-year old son during the Nine Days in 2015. The heartbreak was enormous; the pain and agony were almost too much to bear. Yet the emunah tools the Levkovitz family learned and mastered over the years consoled the family. Rebbetzin Levkovitz chose to share these G-d-given tools with seminary girls. The response was immediate and enormous; this led to her phone lecture series for woman and girls.
Hashem brings the cure before the makkah (plague). The Especially For You lectures started in 2019 and continued through Covid to the present as a vehicle of chizuk for thousands of women and girls. The Hebrew edition of this book was released during the pandemic. This work gave chizuk to the author’s family and to Klal Yisrael as well. As a school counselor for more than 30 years, Rebbetzin Levkovitz knew that emunah is the secret to a good life. She wanted to share that secret with as many people as possible to allow them to reach a deeper and more connected place. Her personal challenges and interactions with other women helped with this holy work.
Psychology can only get you so far; we need to feed ourselves emunah. Therapy, advice, and emotional support only reach the surface level. However, the book teaches that emunah allows us to reach the depth of our souls and hear Hashem’s voice within us. This brings the neshama to true happiness.
For some, the pursuit of happiness is the endless pursuit of wealth. People invest large sums of money in wellness, but there’s a better way: emunah. Stay attuned to life through Rebbetzin Levkovitz’s three steps: Recognizing that everything is from Hashem; that everything is good; and asking yourself, “What does Hashem want from me here and now?” With this in mind, you’ll find the true joy that lies within.
Regular physical activity keeps the body fit and strong; to remain stagnant would mean needing physical therapy just to move again. Likewise, faith is a muscle we need to constantly work on. It’s a formula for life.
Especially For You has proven a useful resource for teachers and rebbeim. Since it was published in March, thousands of copies have been sold in both Hebrew and English. The phone lecture series taps into current events, their challenges and effects. This has driven demand for the series and book. People are constantly telling Rebbetzin Levkovitz that the book has changed their lives and that they have a permanent place for it near their beds. Yet she remains humble, knowing she is a pipeline from Hashem tasked with forwarding His message.
Especially For You encompasses only half of the 417-page Hebrew edition. Feldheim took up the mantle to carry on the task of publishing the compact English edition, which can easily be carried around. Hopefully part two of the book can be published soon.
