Naomi Levy

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Rabbi
Naomi Levy
Personal
Born
Naomi Levy

Brooklyn, New York
ReligionJudaism
SpouseRobert Eshman
ResidenceLos Angeles

Naomi Levy is an American rabbi, author and speaker.

Biography[edit]

Levy was born and raised in the Boro Park section of Brooklyn, New York. She attended Bialik School and Yeshiva of Flatbush.

She attended Cornell University, where she graduated Phi Beta Kappa and summa cum laude. In 1984, she was in the first class of women to enter The Jewish Theological Seminary's rabbinical school. At the seminary, Rabbi Levy received honors as outstanding underclass student of Talmud and outstanding underclass rabbinical student. In 1989, Rabbi Levy became the first female Conservative rabbi to head a pulpit on the West Coast, at Mishkon Tephilo.[1][2] She led Congregation Mishkon Tephilo in Venice, California for seven years.

Levy's first book, To Begin Again (1998), discusses recovery from suffering and tragedy, and relates her own loss when her father was murdered in an armed robbery when she was 15.[3][4] Her 2002 book, Talking to God, discusses the transformative effect of prayer.

In 2004, Rabbi Levy founded Nashuva, a spiritual outreach service for Jews turned off to traditional Jewish service.[5] Nashuva holds Shabbat services the first Friday of each month at a church in Brentwood, drawing capacity crowds[6] of 300 people. Nashuva, which means "we will return" in Hebrew, also leads monthly social service and social action projects in the Los Angeles area. "The goal of prayer isn’t only personal peace," says the group's web site. "At Nashuva we believe that prayer leads us to action. It reminds us that we are here to heal this broken world. Nashuva is a service that leads to service."[7]

Levy has appeared on NBC's Today Show and on Oprah, and has been featured in Parade, Redbook, SELF, and Los Angeles magazines.[8] She serves on the faculties of the Wexner Heritage Foundation and the Academy of Jewish Religion. She lectures widely on topics of faith, strength, renewal, spirituality, healing and prayer.

Levy has made multiple appearances on Newsweek magazine's list of the 50 most influential rabbis in the nation[9] and on the Forward 50 list of influential Jewish Americans.[10]

In 2010, she published her third book, Hope Will Find You: My Search for the Wisdom to Stop Waiting and Start Living, which deals with what happened after her then 6-year-old daughter was diagnosed with a serious disease.[11][12]

The 2022 art exhibit “Holy Sparks”, shown among other places at the Dr. Bernard Heller Museum, featured art about twenty-four female rabbis who were firsts in some way;[13][14] Judy Sirota Rosenthal created the artwork about Levy that was in that exhibit.[15]

Rabbi Levy lives in Venice, California, with her husband, Robert Eshman, editor-in-chief of the Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles, and their two children.

Books[edit]

  • To Begin Again: The Journey Toward Comfort, Strength, and Faith in Difficult Times (1998)
  • Talking to God: Personal Prayers for Times of Joy, Sadness, Struggle, and Celebration (2002)
  • Hope Will Find You: My Search for the Wisdom to Stop Waiting and Start Living (2010)
  • Einstein and the Rabbi: Searching for the Soul (2017)

References[edit]

  1. ^ Mathis Chazanov, "Mazel Tov! Arrival of 26-Year-Old Female Rabbi Revives Troubled Conservative Synagogue", Los Angeles Times, August 13, 1989.
  2. ^ "Temple Mishkon Tephilo Celebrates 100 Years Of Life in Venice". Jewish Journal. 2019-04-03. Retrieved 2019-04-21.
  3. ^ Diego Ribadeneira, "For rabbi and author, seeds of renewal were sown in tragedy", Boston Globe, November 14, 1998 (pay site).
  4. ^ Mary Rourke, "A Rabbi's Road to Recovery", Los Angeles Times, August 25, 1998.
  5. ^ Johanna Ginsberg, "Experimental service offers ‘return’ to worship", New Jersey Jewish News, May 12, 2010.
  6. ^ Jonah Lowenfield, "A rabbi’s journey, a mother’s anxious path", Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles, September 14, 2010.
  7. ^ "Rosh Hashanah: Synagogues want to "worship without being in fear" amid rising anti-Semitism". Newsweek. 2017-09-20. Retrieved 2022-09-05.
  8. ^ "JTS forum hears author-rabbi who heads Nashuva community". jewishstandard.timesofisrael.com. Retrieved 2022-09-05.
  9. ^ "The 50 Most Influential Rabbis in America", Newsweek, June 28, 2010.
  10. ^ "Forward 50, 2010 Part Two", The Jewish Daily Forward, October 27, 2010.
  11. ^ Andrea Sachs, "Rabbi Naomi Levy on Her Daughter's Condition, Finding Hope", TIME, October 6, 2010.
  12. ^ Gabrielle Birkner, "From Pain to Revelation: How One Devastated Mother Left the ‘Waiting Room’", The Jewish Daily Forward, November 5, 2010.
  13. ^ Eckerling, Debra L. (March 31, 2022). ""Holy Sparks" Exhibition Celebrates 50 Years of Women in the Rabbinate". Jewish Journal.
  14. ^ "Holy Sparks: Celebrating Fifty Years of Women in the Rabbinate". HUC.
  15. ^ "VIDEO: HOLY SPARKS – Celebrating 50 Years of Women in the Rabbinate". Jewish Art Salon. January 30, 2022.

External links[edit]

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