Abraham Levovitz

Levovitz' death ends quarter-century presidency for Maimonides School
Jessica Scarpati/CNC Staff Writer | Wicked Local
Abraham Levovitz was nearly ready to pack up and move his family and business from Connecticut to South Portland, Maine, when fate intercepted in the mid-1960s.

It may not be often that fate comes as a convention of Orthodox Jews, but it was where the manufacturing mogul first met the founder of Maimonides School, Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik.

Levovitz — who followed the famed rabbi’s values through his tenure as president of Maimonides for nearly a quarter-century — died July 22 after a stroke. He was 83 years old.

Back in 1965, there was no question: Levovitz was mesmerized. The family put their roots down in Brookline, even though the factory was still going to be in southern Maine.

“He really just fell in love with [Soloveitchik]. He just felt, if this man was in a certain community — he so resonated with his philosophy, his learnings, his teachings — he wanted to be where he was,” said daughter Reva Gertel, a Holland Road resident.

And no, her father didn’t mind the longer commute — about 110 miles more per day — because he could get involved with the Modern Orthodox private school he so admired.

“Even though my father was a businessman, I think he saw the business not as an end in itself,” Gertel said. “He saw the business as a conduit to his goals, which was really perpetuating Jewish education and perpetuating the religious doctrine of Modern Orthodoxy.”

And perhaps, she said, that was why the philosophy at Maimonides resonated with him. Religious and secular classes are given equal weight at the school.

“As far as Rabbi Soloveitchik was concerned, it was almost mandatory that to call yourself a religious Jew, you had to see yourself in both worlds — in the world of religion and in the secular world, as well,” Gertel said. “That was the critical point to my father.”

As an avid devotee, Levovitz steered the school within the world he knew best: finance. He was appointed as president of the school in 1983.

“He never saw himself as an educator,” Gertel said. “He was very aware that a school could not survive unless there was a strong endowment in place.”

Meanwhile, those in the Maimonides community said the legacy would survive.

“He was the personification of the school,” said Mike Rosenberg, director of alumni and community relations for the Philbrick Road school. “No one will ever be able to match his level — only emulate it.”

Slim from decades of playing tennis, standing at 6-foot-2 and known for his smart fashion, Levovitz was hard to miss in the halls.

“He carried himself with such dignity and authority, that when he was in the building, it was like an aura,” Rosenberg said.

A Brooklyn native, Levovitz was the only one of his brothers not to become a rabbi. The deviation was notable, as his grandfathers had been “renowned” rabbis in Eastern Europe, his daughter said.

Despite the dramatic departure from tradition, Levovitz had his family’s support.

“I think his greatest fan was his father,” Gertel said. “He just realized that becoming a rabbi or teacher was not for everyone.”

Meanwhile, Levovitz’ business life started with the chickens — that is, selling poultry.

Years later, the company morphed into converting chicken feathers into foam for commercial use, such as in fire extinguishers or on airplane runways.

Before he knew it, Levovitz became, by modern-day standards, a true ecologist.

His manufacturing plants began turning the chickens’ innards into animal feed, using parts of the bird that were otherwise trashed. As the poultry market in New England declined, he explored similar techniques using inedible parts of fish.

A couple of years later — long before French fry fuel became trendy — he started a company reprocessing used grease from restaurants into soap products.

“He was really an entrepreneur,” his daughter said. “He had a tremendous sense of self-discipline, and once he took something on, he just committed to it with everything.”

But even well into his 60s by that point, Levovitz showed no sign of slowing down and began his next endeavor, America Works, a private company that helps welfare recipients move into the working world.

He then moved on into another venture a few years ago: real estate.

“My father could never retire,” Gertel said. “He was a tremendous role model for all of us, but we knew we needed to share him.”

Surviving Levovitz is his wife of 58 years, Marilyn; his daughter, Reva Gertel, and her husband, Harvey; his daughter, Dina Levovitz, of Natick; his son, Ari Levovitz, and his wife, Kayla, of Lawrence, N.Y.; his son, Morey Levovitz and his wife, Debbie, of Los Angeles; his brother, Rabbi Pesach Levovitz of Lakewood, N.J.; his brother, Chaim Yosef, of Far Rockaway, N.Y.; 15 grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.

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