Irving Levitas
Irving Levitas | |
|---|---|
 Levitas, c. 1960s | |
| Born | c. 1900 |
| Died | November 24, 1977 (aged 77) |
| Academic background | |
| Alma mater | University of Chicago New York University |
| Academic work | |
| Discipline | Theology |
| Sub-discipline | Jewish studies |
Irving Levitas (c. 1900 – November 24, 1977) was a Soviet-born American Jewish scholar, lecturer and Talmudist.
Biography
Levitas was born c. 1900, near Kyiv, in the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic of the Soviet Union. In 1914, he moved to Chicago and later graduated from the University of Chicago, with a Master's degree in history. He moved to Kansas City, Missouri and worked as an educational director for both the The Temple, Congregation B'nai Jehudah and the Jewish Community Center of Kansas City. He also lectured on Semitic studies from 1948 to 1962, at the University of Kansas.[1] On May 8, 1960, he served as assistant to rabbi Samuel S. Mayerberg during the 77th birthday party of former President Harry S. Truman, at the Muehlebach Hotel.[2]
He moved to New York City in 1962, living in an apartment with copious amounts of books on Jewish history.[3] He graduated from New York University with a doctorate. A Reform Jew, he was ordained a rabbi after endorsement of three other rabbis. From 1975 until his death, he was a scholar for Temple Emmanuel, in Yonkers, as well as being a lecturer for SUNY Sullivan. He died on November 24, 1977, aged 77, of lung cancer, in a nursing home in Hawthorne.[1] After his death, in the late 1980s, polymath Michael Zinman purchased his collection.[4]
References
- ^ a b "Irving Levitas Is Dead; Jewish History Scholar (Published 1987)". 1987-11-25. Retrieved 2025-07-30.
- ^ "Harry S. Truman's 77th birthday party | Harry S. Truman". www.trumanlibrary.gov. Retrieved 2025-07-30.
- ^ Trillin, Calvin (1975-02-03). "Three Strand-Hounds". The New Yorker. ISSN 0028-792X. Retrieved 2025-07-30.
- ^ Singer, Mark (2005). Character Studies: Encounters with the Curiously Obsessed. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. p. 221. ISBN 978-0-618-19725-5.