The Jewish community in Nassau County, N.Y.’s Five Towns is grappling with tragedy after the sudden passing of Levi Yitzchok Wolowik, the nine-year-old son of Rabbi Zalman and Chanie Wolowik, longtime directors of Chabad-Lubavitch of the Five Towns.

The third of seven children, Wolowik, who was completely healthy, passed away sometime during the night over Shabbat. According to friends of the family, his passing was discovered Saturday morning by his mother, who had gone into his room to wake him.

An exceptional student who was known in the community for his kindhearted nature, Wolowik is the grandson of Rabbi Moshe Kotlarsky, vice chairman of Merkos L’Inyonei Chinuch, the educational arm of Chabad-Lubavitch.

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Some community members found out the tragic news during morning prayer services at the Chabad House.

“People are taking this as a loss to the entire Five Towns community,” Hadassa Geisinsky, a youth director at the center, said early Sunday morning. “It’s a tragedy for everybody here.”

Geisinsky conveyed a message from the Wolowiks, who despite the tragedy, have urged activities at the center to continue, beginning with tonight’s 14th annual dinner.

While the couple will not be there, and will instead be mourning their son from their home, “they plead that every person should go and be there in Levi’s memory,” said Geisinsky.

According to a statement on the Web site of Chabad-Lubavitch of the Five Towns, Levi Yitzchok Wolowik’s burial will take place Sunday afternoon at the Old Montefiore Cemetery in Cambria Heights, N.Y., following a procession that will pass by the Chabad House and Lubavitch World Headquarters in Brooklyn.