Felix Alexander Levy (October 20, 1884 – June 16, 1963) was an American rabbi who mostly ministered in Chicago, Illinois.

Life

Levy was born on October 20, 1884, in

New York City, New York New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on New York Harbor, one of the world's largest natural harb ...

, the son of Alexander Levy and Catherine Bergdoll. His parents were from

Alsace–Lorraine Alsace–Lorraine (German language, German: ''Elsaß–Lothringen''), officially the Imperial Territory of Alsace–Lorraine (), was a territory of the German Empire, located in modern-day France. It was established in 1871 by the German Empire ...

. Levy graduated from the College of the City of New York with an A.B. in 1904. He then took post-graduate courses at

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

and the Jewish Theological Seminary from 1904 to 1905. He later went to

Hebrew Union College Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and remained in regular use as a first language until ...

, where he was ordained a rabbi in 1907 and received an honorary D.D. degree in 1939, and the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

, where he received a Ph.D. in 1917. He served as rabbi of

Temple B'rith Kodesh Temple B'rith Kodesh is a Reform Jewish synagogue located at 2131 Elmwood Avenue, in the suburb of Brighton, in Rochester, Monroe County, New York, in the United States. It is the oldest synagogue and the largest Reform congregation in the gr ...

Rochester, New York Rochester is a city in and the county seat, seat of government of Monroe County, New York, United States. It is the List of municipalities in New York, fourth-most populous city and 10th most-populated municipality in New York, with a populati ...

, from 1907 to 1908. In the latter year, he became rabbi of

Emanuel Congregation Emanuel Congregation (formerly Temple Emanuel) is a Reform Jewish congregation and synagogue located at 5959 North Sheridan Road, in the Edgewater neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois, in the United States. The congregation was founded in 1880. ...

Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

. Active in Jewish religious and educational affairs, he was a lecturer for the

Jewish Chautauqua Society The Jewish Chautauqua Society was the interfaith education program of the Men of Reform Judaism (MRJ), a U.S. nonprofit organization, whose independent existence ceased in 2015 when it was merged into the Union for Reform Judaism. It had defined it ...

and an associate editor of ''B'nai B'rith News''. From 1917 to 1918, he was in France as a member of the Jewish Welfare Board. He was a board of governors member of Hebrew Union College, chairman of the board of the College of Jewish Studies, and a member of the board of Jewish education. He was also an executive board member of the

Zionist Organization of America The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA; ) is an American nonprofit pro-Israel organization. Founded in 1897, as the Federation of American Zionists, it was the first official Zionist organization in the United States. Early in the 20th century ...

, president of the Liberal Ministers' Association, and vice-president of the League Against War and Fascism. He wrote several books and was a contributor to ''The Reform Advocate'', ''B'nai B'rith News'', ''Hebrew Union College Monthly'', and ''The Sentinel''. Levy influenced his colleagues to modify Reform Judaism's attitudes towards ''

halakha ''Halakha'' ( ; , ), also Romanization of Hebrew, transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Judaism, Jewish religious laws that are derived from the Torah, Written and Oral Torah. ''Halakha'' is ...

'' and Jewish identity. He served as president of the

Central Conference of American Rabbis The Central Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR), founded in 1889 by Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise, is the principal organization of Reform rabbis in the United States and Canada. The CCAR is the largest and oldest rabbinical organization in the world. ...

from 1935 to 1937, and as president he had the Conference adopt the 1937 Columbus Platform to embody his ideas. He retired as rabbi of Emanuel Congregation in 1955, after which he served as editor of ''Judaism'' and dean of the academy for Higher Jewish Learning. A selection of his papers and sermons were published in S.D. Temkin's ''His Own Torah'' in 1969. He was an executive board member of the

Jewish Publication Society of America The Jewish Publication Society (JPS), originally known as the Jewish Publication Society of America, is the oldest nonprofit, nondenominational publisher of Jewish works in English. Founded in Philadelphia in 1888, by Reform Rabbi Joseph Krauskop ...

. In 1910, Levy married Celia Schanfarber. Their children were Marjory, Suzanne, Katherine (who was dead by 1947), and Jacqueline. His son-in-law was Rabbi

Wolfe Kelman __NOTOC__ Wolfe Kelman (November 27, 1923 – June 26, 1990) was an Austrian-born American rabbi and leader in the Conservative Judaism in the United States who never led a congregation, serving for decades as a mentor to hundreds of rabbis in h ...

and his granddaughter was Rabbi

Naamah Kelman Naamah Kelman-Ezrachi (also spelled Naama) (Hebrew: נעמה קלמן; born January 25, 1955) is an American-born Israeli Reform rabbi who was named as Dean of the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion campus in Jerusalem starting in J ...

. Levy died from a heart attack at his home in New York City on June 16, 1963. He was buried in

Rosehill Cemetery Rosehill Cemetery (founded 1859) is a historic rural cemetery on the North Side of Chicago, Illinois in the United States. At , it is the largest cemetery in the city of Chicago and its first private cemetery. The Entrance Gate and Administration ...

References

External links

Felix A. Levy Papers
at the ''

American Jewish Archives The Jacob Rader Marcus Center of the American Jewish Archives, founded in 1947, is committed to preserving a documentary heritage of the religious, organizational, economic, cultural, personal, social and family life of American Jewry. It has be ...

'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Levy, Felix A. 1884 births 1963 deaths City College of New York alumni Columbia University alumni Jewish Theological Seminary of America alumni Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion alumni University of Chicago alumni 19th-century American Jews 20th-century American rabbis American Reform rabbis Rabbis from New York City Rabbis from Chicago Religious leaders from Rochester, New York Burials at Rosehill Cemetery