LEVITSKY, LOUIS MOSES

LEVITSKY, LOUIS MOSES (1897–1975), U.S. Conservative rabbi. Levitsky was born in Kremenchug, Russia, and was taken to Montreal as a child, then emigrated to the United States in 1916. He was ordained at the Jewish Theological Seminary (1923) and received his doctorate in 1933, then led a congregation in Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania (1922–40), where he upgraded and energized the adult education program. From 1940 until his death he led Oheb Shalom Congregation in South Orange, NJ, continuing his innovative work in adult education. Levitsky also served as director of the Seminary School of Jewish Studies (1940–65) and the Women's Institute of the Seminary. He chaired its Board of Trustees (1947–53) and the Board of Governors of the National Academy of Adult Jewish Education. He taught Jewish history and theology at Rutgers and other colleges. A leader in Conservative Judaism and in civic life, Levitsky was president of the Rabbinical Assembly (1942–44) during a time of enormous stress, when one in three of its members were serving in the Armed Forces as chaplains. He also initiated contacts between Conservative Judaism and the Latin American countries, an area where the Conservative movement has been remarkably effective. He chaired the Army and Navy Activities of the National Jewish Welfare Board immediately after World War II and was chairman of the Ethics Committee of the Rabbinical Assembly. He also held the sensitive position of directing the Placement Commission of the RA in 1950. His board experience was put to use by the state of New Jersey, where he also served as a member of the National War Labor Board Panel of Mediators and the New Jersey Labor Mediation Board. He wrote A Jew Looks at America (1939). He also wrote an essay on his rabbinical experience "Salient Features of My Rabbinate in a City with Over 50,000 Jews" in the Proceedings of the Rabbinical Assembly 1949. -BIBLIOGRAPHY: P.S. Nadell, Conservative Judaism in America: A Biographical Dictionary and Sourcebook (1988) (Jack Reimer / Michael Berenbaum (2nd ed.)