LEVY, JOSEPH LEONARD

LEVY, JOSEPH LEONARD (1865–1917), U.S. Reform rabbi. Levy was born in London. He graduated from the University of London in 1884 and was trained for the Orthodox ministry at Jews College, London. From 1885 to 1889 he served the Bristol Hebrew Congregation. In 1889 he went to the United States as rabbi to a congregation in Sacramento, California, and from 1893 to 1901 he was assistant rabbi at Congregation Keneseth Israel, Philadelphia. From 1901 to 1917 he was rabbi of Congregation Rodef Shalom, Pittsburgh. During the Spanish-American War he was an army chaplain for a short period. Levy was famous in his day as a preacher; about 16 volumes of his sermons were published. He was active in local and international peace associations and in health, housing, and other welfare organizations in Pittsburgh. (Sefton D. Temkin)