RABBI ROBERT N. LEVINE, D.D.
Senior Rabbi
                    

Robert Levine, Senior Rabbi of Congregation Rodeph Sholom for the past 18 years, is an inspiring speaker, teacher, and counselor to congregants and community alike. A clear thinker with a terrific sense of humor, he is a sought-after speaker and media guest on national radio and television programs.

Especially active in communal affairs, he is the past President of the New York Board of Rabbis, as well as having served as Vice-President and Chairman of its Interfaith Committee. He chairs a Catholic/Jewish Dialogue with the Archdiocese of the City of New York, has chaired the publications committee of the Central Conference of American Rabbis, is a member of the Commission of Religious Leaders of New York City, and is on the board of the American Jewish Committee.

Rabbi Levine is the author of three books. Rabbi Robert Levine’s latest book, What God Can Do For You Now: For Seekers Who Want to Believe (Sourcebooks, Inc. 2008), represents his personal faith journey and is for Jews, Christians and secularists who want to find a way back from skepticism and self-doubt about God. He asserts that with all our reservations, we can still have a real relationship with God that matters for our lives and for the world that needs action emerging from faith. Where Are You When I Need You? Befriending God When Life Hurts (HarperSanFrancisco, 1996) offers timeless stories and anecdotes for readers of all ages and faiths to strengthen and renew their relationship with God, even in the face of one’s gravest doubts. In There Is No Messiah and You’re It: The Stunning Transformation of Judaism’s Most Provocative Idea (Jewish Lights, 2003), Rabbi Levine urges us to recognize that the powerful messianic ideals we’re waiting to have delivered to us are already present in our own lives.

Rabbi Levine was ordained at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in 1977 and received his Doctorate of Divinity Degree in March 2002. He is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Columbia College. In 1997 he received the Maria and Joel Finkle Prize as Rabbi of the Year, presented by the New York Board of Rabbis; and in 2002, he was the recipient of the International Humanitarian Award by The World Union for Progressive Judaism, alongside Ehud Barak, former Prime Minister of Israel.