The Rabbi Levin collection contains his two books (in three volumes),
Sefer Ha-Aderet Veha-Emunah. Many of Levin’s ideas concerning various Talmudic tractates are collected in these volumes. The chapters are arranged by the order of the Mishnah, and in the last volume he discusses some biblical matters. The published volumes have been removed from the collection of manuscript material and cataloged separately. The collection also contains family documents, manuscript notebooks, and miscellaneous notes.
The manuscript materials have been organized to facilitate research. Four files contain a variety of materials relating to Rabbi Levin and his family. The first file contains biographical details about Rabbi Levin. The second file has information about his son, while the third file contains all the information about Levin’s patent for a calculating machine. In addition to being rabbi, Levin was also an inventor. He invented one of the earliest machines that was able to perform simple calculations involving adding and subtracting. The original machine is currently housed in the collections of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. The fourth file contains correspondence between Levin and Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook, Chief Rabbi of Palestine. The letters from Rabbi Kook are on his personal stationery.
The core of the collection consists of Rabbi Levin’s twenty two notebooks. Each notebook was assigned a distinct identification number. The numbers are arbitrary and do not represent any chronological or thematic order. The notebooks are all in Levin’s hand, written in a mixture of Yiddish and Hebrew, but also in English written in Hebrew letters. The majority of the notes written in the notebooks are drafts of text, or fragments of drafts, in preparation for sermons he gave in various synagogues, or for lectures he presented on special occasions. There are also notes and ideas that apparently never were developed into complete essays or speeches. The sermons and lectures were for all kinds of occasions, which are summarized under the following titles: Ceremonies, Biblical Sermons, Holidays and Festivals, Additional Talmudic Sermons, and General.
Ceremonies cover all stages of a person’s life, from birth to death. In some cases, Levin prepared general orations for funeral or wedding services to be used as needed; while others are specific, and the name of a person and details about that person are included. An example is the memorial for Dr. Theodor Herzl (Notebook #14). In many cases, Levin explained the custom of the ceremony and would often include an analysis or argument. For example, in one of the orations for brit milah (circumcision ritual), Levin argued that the meaning of the ceremony was not just religious, but also had a more general, nationalistic side. In the same ceremony description, he emphasized that in Judaism’s view, parents had no right to harm their children, as children were not their parents’ property (Notebook #1). For a bar-mitzvah ceremony, Levin based his blessing on “a wise son makes a glad father, but a foolish son is his mother’s grief” (Proverbs 10:1, Notebook #1.) and explained the broader concept behind the quote. Based on these notebooks, it appears that many of the ceremonies that he conducted were funerals. Often he began his oration with “Lord, what is man that You should care about him … man is like a breath … ”Psalms 144:3-4). Sometimes, however, he also used other citations. For example, in Notebook #1, he compared the contemporary saying, “Life is Short,” to the saying “The day is short and the task is great” (Aboth 2:15). The following summary contains is a list of the ceremonies that appear in each notebook.
Biblical Sermons likely delivered in the synagogue each Shabbat, are concerned with Shabbat observances, most of them following a consistent format: first Levin quoted from the weekly Torah readings, next he discussed some Talmudic questions or arguments connected with the quote; this is followed by a concentration on a general topic. In many cases, the general topic dealt with historic events that were happening at the time of writing. Levin emphasized the hard times Jewish communities experienced in various places in Europe, in particular, in his Russian homeland. For example, in November 1915, Levin cited “and Esau said,” Let us start on our journey … ” (Genesis 33:12, Va-Yishlah weekly reading), and spoke about the Jewish people who were loyal to Mother Russia and fought in the Russian Army. But in return, their country engaged in pogroms and stole the belongings of many Jewish families (Notebook #15).
Having lived through World War I, Levin often mentions the war and its horrible results in his notebooks. On December 3, 1914, he also explained how the Americans fought the Turks (Notebook #7). In many of his orations, his main message is that the contemporary, materialistic world encourages wars. For example, on August 20, 1921 (Notebook #4), Rabbi Levin explains the Shelah-Lekha weekly reading, and told his audience that God is against all the golden crowns that human beings like czars and sultans put on because they bring about war. Levin argued that disputes should be settled through discussion and not by the sword.
Levin considered education an important tool in safeguarding the spirit of Judaism and in preventing conflict. On January 15, 1916, while discussing the Beshallah weekly reading, Levin declared that contemporary schools, similar to the schools in Europe, encouraged heroic exploits and wealth, instead of spirituality; therefore, they encouraged warlike behavior. He argued that fighting does not solve any problems, and never defeats evil (Notebook #15). Levin had some faith in efforts to resolve problems in the world through negotiations and to bring peace to the world. Thus, on November 12, 1921, commenting on the Lekh-Lekha weekly reading (Notebook #5), he addressed a “World Peace Conference in Washington,” connecting it to the prophecy of the last days: “The wolf shall dwell with the lamb” (Isaiah 11:6).
In some of his biblical sermons, Levin would bring up current disputes in the Jewish world: On October 23, 1915, while talking about the Va-Yera reading, he discussed Orthodox and Reform views of the way Judaism should be practiced, and the question of practicing “half Judaism” (Notebook #15). In another instance, while discussing the Va-Yera reading, Levin mentioned the dispute in Baltimore (1917) which concerned the question of “Who is a Jew?” (Notebook #4). In the summary, one can find which weekly readings were discussed in each notebook.
Although they are part of biblical sermons, Holidays and Festivals are mentioned separately. For many of the holidays, Levin discusses the customs and the sources of these days. He comments upon the “Hellenization” phenomenon (Notebook #2), in the Hanukkah story and the four cups of wine of the Passover seder (Notebook #12). He also relates the history upon which the holidays were based. An example can be found in an entry for Hanukkah, on December 25, 1921, where he expounds on the admiration that the Israelites had for the Hasmoneans, and compares it to the attitude the Americans had toward Lincoln (Notebook #4). On September 18, 1920, which was Shabbat Shuvah, Levin translated the meaning of “Hear Oh, Israel” and the sanctification of the Holy Name. He connects it to what was happening at the time to Jews who lived under the Bolsheviks in Russia and in Poland (Notebook #4). For the Festivals (Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur,) Levin discusses the spirit and message of biblical passages. On March 11, 1922, Shabbat Zakhor, Levin read “Remember what Amalek did to you … ” (Deuteronomy 25:17) and coped with the idea of revenge, which is in opposition to the spirit of the Bible. He explained that if the Jewish people would remember how they were rescued, it could intensify their spirit to fight and be strong in difficult times (Notebook #12). Even in his writings about holidays, Levin always considered contemporary world events, and he encouraged his audience to keep their spirits up. On April 12 1921, he talks about Nissan - the month of redemption. Levin writes that he found signs of deliverance in the recognition of the nations of the Zionist Congress and its president (Notebook #2). On Shavuot, on June 1, 1922, Levin talked about the hope that the Balfour Declaration gave to the Jewish people. Although he felt that there were many problems with the British mandate and its pro-Arab stance, Levin was reassured that, with faith, the people of Israel were close to achieving salvation. In the summary, one can find a list of holidays that were discussed in each notebook.
Additional Talmudic Sermons, refers to those chapters where Levin taught about Talmudic issues and Mishnah tractates. In some of the notebooks, he drafted sermons that appear in his book Sefer Ha-Aderet Veha-Emunah. Some sermons were published exactly as they appeared in the notebooks; only portions of the original writings were used for other sermons that appeared in the book. As a result, at times, the notebooks reveal more of Rabbi Levin’s ideas and thoughts about a given subject than does his book. In the summary, there are lists of all the tractates that are discussed in each notebook. Also, some of the notebooks serve as a type of index or concordance for studying Talmudic tractates.
General incorporates a wide-range of non-religious subjects, even some that were discussed as part of the weekly biblical readings. Levin always brought some Talmudic and biblical aspects to general topics, and in many cases added some humor to a serious subject. For the opening of a conference on July 23, 1921, Levin related the history of the survival of Judaism, comparing it to the endurance of the parochet (the curtain which hangs in front of the synagogue cabinet which holds the Torah scrolls and commemorates the curtain in front of the holy ark of the Temple in Jerusalem) and to the endurance of the national flag (Notebook #3). On January 9, 1915, in a conference of Hamizrahi in Chicago, Levin presented the idea represented by the passage “But the more they were oppressed, the more they increased and spread out,” (Exodus 1:12 - Notebook #7).
Many of Rabbi Levin’s writings are related to the hope for the creation of a Jewish state. In an oration for a conference, he emphasizes the necessity of a Jewish state for the survival of the Jewish Diaspora (Notebook #8). Levin celebrated any declaration or promise made by Great Britain, or any other nation, in reference to the establishment of a Jewish state. In one of his essays, he quoted Dr. Haim Weizman (Notebook #3). For a banquet that was held at the Carmel Restaurant in Detroit on August 14 1920, Levin discussed, among other issues, the importance of the Balfour Declaration (Notebook #3). In preparing for a conference that took place on November 13, 1920 (Notebook #2), Levin discusses the redemption of the people of Israel as a result of the decisions that took place in London. He tries to remind people how the Hellenization of Jews is artificial and untrue to the faith, and he calls upon the Jewish people to return to the way of the Torah. At a Hamizrahi conference, in 1921 (Notebook #2), Levin compares the people of Israel to a worshipper who finds it difficult to arise from bed for the morning prayers. He beseeches Jews to wake up and return to the way of Torah, and he complains that the people who built the Jewish state created divisiveness within Judaism.
Levin was active in Hamizrahi, (Orthodox Zionist organization, known also as Mizrahi: literally means “Eastern”, but actually derived from the Hebrew acronym for “Spiritual Center” - merkaz ruhani). His speeches included some of the debates that took place in Hamizrahi concerning what the nature of the Jewish state should be. In Levin’s opinion, the Zionist movement should follow the way of the Torah. He compared the Zionist movement and Hamizrahi to the two cherubs in the temple of God: each had his individual way to perform God’s will, but both were necessary for the temple (Notebook #8). Levin referred to the passage “No bread -- no learning, no learning -- no bread.” Levin relates that between 1267-1854, the Jewish people were concentrating on the study of the Bible, and only later did they begin farming and other livelihoods, and that is where Zionism and Hamizrahi stood at this time.
Levin was very concerned that the Jewish people were quarreling amongst themselves. At a Hamizrahi banquet during a conference in Detroit on November 22, 1913, Levin told the people not to be deceived by the solemn atmosphere that prevailed in the hall while the real world of Judaism was segmented and even hostile (Notebook #4). On January 9, 1915, at a conference of Hamizrahi in Chicago, Levin stressed that the point of having the gathering was not the bellyful of food that was served during the conference which gave the participants a sweet taste, rather their purpose was to overcome the bitter taste of assimilation and persecution by creating a place for the Jews in their own country (Notebook #7). In another preparation for a Hamizrahi conference (Notebook #2), Levin explained that, so far, not many practical deeds, like buying land, had been done to help building the country of Israel. The organization was mainly busy with internal arguments about which way the country of Israel should choose. Levin was concerned that the Zionist movement was not following the way of the Torah. In an additional Hamizrahi conference on October 6th, 1920, he talked about those who condemned and those who blessed the Zionist movement. He explained the two viewpoints, and their connections to historic events like the Peace Conference in Paris (Notebook #3). However, he highlighted that the goal was more important than the dispute. Therefore, the Jewish people should show unity, or their cause would suffer. On January 17, 1914, he emphasized that in spite of the difference of opinions between the Orthodox factions, they all should be united and help to build the country of Israel, otherwise, they would not be part of the country (Notebook #4).
Rabbi Levin was very active in fund-raising for good causes, and was always concerned that the money would serve its cause and not the people who collected the money. For example, on January 12 1918, while acting for “Distribution Funds for the Land of Israel” Levin admonished the audience not to use the money for food for the banquets held to raise the money (Notebook #4). On Shavuot 1921, he talked for the Jewish Foundation Fund “Keren ha-Yesod.” He encouraged the idea of giving a tithe, and begged the people not to wait until God would build the country of Israel. He also praised and endorsed Dr. Weizmann, who had collected money all over the world, but did not take a penny for himself (Notebook #5).
Levin took part in building synagogues and participated in opening ceremonies for several new synagogues in Detroit. He stressed the importance of keeping the synagogues active all year around, and not just to build nice houses for keeping God in a beautiful place (Notebook # 9, #18). Levin was also involved in building religious schools in the Detroit area. In some of his orations he discusses these events; for example, the laying of the corner-stone for the Talmud-Torah School in Detroit, on July 15 1922 (Notebook #12) where he discussed the efforts to preserve Judaism in the modern world. In other notes he considers the question of whether Jewish studies needed to include the full spectrum of the sciences, or just concentrate on biblical subjects (Notebook #9).
Levin did much work on behalf of charitable projects, such as orphanages (Notebook #18), and hospitals. On August 2, 1913, he was involved in opening the “Bikur Holim” hospital and sanatorium for needy patients in Mount Clemens, Michigan (Notebook #13). On November 22, 1915, he participated in a fund-raiser for the “Hevra Kaddisha” burial society. Rabbi Levin thought that it was essential to have a Jewish burial society which offered all Jewish people the opportunity to be buried according to the laws of the Torah (Notebook #15). The summary includes a list of the topics that are discussed in each notebook.
