Congratulations to Rabbi Levin

CONGRATULATIONS TO RABBI LEVIN -- (Extensions of Remarks - October 07, 2004)

SPEECH OF
HON. BOB FILNER
OF CALIFORNIA
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2004

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker and colleagues, I want to take the time to recognize Rabbi Moshe Levin, the spiritual leader of Congregation Ner Tamid in the Sunset, San Francisco. Rabbi Levin is being honored by the Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice for his contributions to worker justice and worker rights.

Rabbi Levin came from San Francisco to San Diego, where he served as the Senior Rabbi of Congregation Beth El in La Jolla for 15 years. Two years ago, he was named Rabbi Emeritus of that prestigious congregation, and began commuting to San Francisco to serve the people of Ner Tamid.

Rabbi Levin was ordained at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, the central pillar of Conservative Judaism in the United States. He served as an Air Force chaplain for the first 2 years of his rabbinical career, and was stationed in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War. His pulpit experience spanned 30 years, including 2 years on the Island of Curacao in the Dutch West Indies.

Rabbi Levin was born in Brooklyn, NY, graduated from Brooklyn College and spent 2 years at Jerusalem's Hebrew University, majoring in economics and philosophy, and studying the Bible with the famed Nehama Leibowitz and archeology with Yigal Yadin. At the Jewish Theological Seminary, Rabbi Levin was privileged to study with such giants of the last century as Abraham Joshua Heschel and Chancellor Louis Finkelstein.

Over the course of his career, Rabbi Moshe Levin has been active in Zionist causes, social action projects, interfaith activities, as well as furthering the creative continuity of American Jewish life. He is a founding member of the Palestinian-Jewish Dialogue of San Diego, which has been featured in the Christian Science Monitor, and has served on numerous boards, most recently the American Jewish Committee and the Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice. In 1992, he was named Civil Libertarian of the Year by the San Diego and Imperial Chapters of the ACLU.

Rabbi Levin's writings include: the Ethical Orgins of Kashrut, Near- Eastern Birthrights and the Eassau Jacob Narrative, Sexuality in Jewish Law and Tradition, and the Rabbinate for the 21st Century. It is a privilege to honor Rabbi Moshe Levin.