Lew Y. Levin(February 4, 2013

''Yeshiva World News''. Retrieved January 26, 2022. or Yehuda Levin (born 1954) is a

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, New York-based

Orthodox Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to: Religion * Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pag ...

rabbi A rabbi (; ) is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi—known as ''semikha''—following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of t ...

known for his endorsing of hard-right Republican Party political candidates and his vocal opposition to

gay rights Rights affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the death penalty for homosexuality. Not ...

feminism Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

, and

abortion Abortion is the early termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. Abortions that occur without intervention are known as miscarriages or "spontaneous abortions", and occur in roughly 30–40% of all pregnan ...

. He has run for elective office numerous times but has lost each time.

Beliefs and political activities

Levin is a vocal religious conservative and opposes

LGBT rights Rights affecting lesbian, Gay men, gay, Bisexuality, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the Capital punishmen ...

and

. Levin is a member of the advisory committee of Jews Against Anti-Christian Defamation, a US-based Jewish group dedicated to fighting discrimination directed against Christians, and tends to be in alliance with Christian

evangelicals Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide, interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that emphasizes evangelism, or the preaching and spreading of the Christian g ...

on efforts opposed to LGBTQ rights and other social issues. This led to his 1996 support for

Pat Buchanan Patrick Joseph Buchanan ( ; born November 2, 1938) is an American paleoconservative author, political commentator, and politician. He was an assistant and special consultant to U.S. presidents Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, and Ronald Reagan. He ...

. Levin has run for public office numerous times. He ran for Congress in 1984 on the Republican ticket; for mayor of New York City in 1985 on the

Right to Life The right to life is the belief that a human (or other animal) has the right to live and, in particular, should not be killed by another entity. The concept of a right to life arises in debates on issues including: capital punishment, with some ...

ticket, and for New York City Council in 1991 and 1993 on the

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

ticket. He was unsuccessful in each of these elections. Levin was involved in stopping a

gay pride In the context of LGBTQ culture, pride (also known as LGBTQ pride, LGBTQIA pride, LGBT pride, queer pride, gay pride, or gay and lesbian pride) is the promotion of the rights, self-affirmation, dignity, Social equality, equality, and increas ...

event from taking place in

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

. In October 2010, Levin worked with

Carl Paladino Carl Pasquale Paladino (born August 24, 1946) is an American businessman and political activist. Paladino is the chairman of Ellicott Development Co., a real estate development company he founded in 1973. Paladino ran for Governor of New York ...

to prepare a homophobic statement that Paladino read at a meeting of New York Orthodox groups, which made national news. Paladino later apologized for that statement, causing Levin to withdraw his support from Paladino. Levin is often noted in popular culture for his strong anti-gay statements, most notably his statement blaming the

2010 Haiti earthquake The 2010 Haiti earthquake was a catastrophic Moment magnitude scale, magnitude 7.0 Mw earthquake that struck Haiti at 16:53 local time (21:53 UTC) on Tuesday, 12 January 2010. The epicenter was near the town of Léogâne, Ouest (departm ...

on the presence of homosexuals in the military. Levin posted a video onto

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

the same day as

2011 Virginia earthquake On August 23, 2011, a moment magnitude scale, magnitude 5.8 earthquake hit the Piedmont (United States), Piedmont region of the U.S. state of Virginia at 1:51:04 p.m. EDT. The epicenter, in Louisa County, Virginia, Louisa County, was nor ...

in which he said, "The

Talmud The Talmud (; ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of Haskalah#Effects, modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cen ...

states, "You have shaken your male member in a place where it doesn’t belong. I too, will shake the Earth." He said that homosexuals shouldn't take it personally: "We don’t hate homosexuals. I feel bad for homosexuals. It’s a revolt against God and literally, there’s hell to pay."

Endorsements

Levin supported

Randall Terry Randall Allen Terry (born April 25, 1959) is an American politician and activist. Terry founded the anti-abortion organization Operation Save America, Operation Rescue. Beginning in 1987, the group became particularly prominent for blockading th ...

's bid to run as a Democrat in 2012 for President of the United States.

Praise and criticism

Levin, a student of Avigdor Miller, has received praise by Orthodox rabbis for defending tradition. Nevertheless, some Orthodox rabbis and community leaders from Ashkenazic and Hasidic communities have responded negatively to Levin. Levin has also received support from some conservative Catholics for causes relevant to the

World Congress of Families The World Congress of Families (WCF) is an international conference that promotes Christian right values internationally. The WCF is the main event of the International Organization for the Family and focuses on issues like opposition to divorce, ...

.Indian Catholic
reprint of

Zenit News Agency ZENIT is a non-profit news agency that reports on the Catholic Church and matters important to it from the perspective of Catholic doctrine. Its motto is "The world seen from Rome". Mission The ZENIT Internet site describes the perspective of th ...

article

References

External links

http://rabbilevin.com

https://web.archive.org/web/20080319141958/http://www.godreignoverus.com/

Rabbi Levin's radio show
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Levin, Yehuda American Haredi rabbis Living people 1954 births Orthodox rabbis from New York City New York (state) Republicans Conservative Party of New York State politicians New York State Right to Life Party politicians American anti-abortion activists American anti-same-sex-marriage activists 20th-century American rabbis 21st-century American rabbis