Lee J. (Lee Joseph) Levinger

Born in Burke, Idaho, Lee J. Levinger was an American Reform rabbi and author who was ordained at Hebrew Union College in 1914. Archival and reference sources describe him as a writer deeply interested in the history of Jews in the United States and in the work of Jewish chaplains in the U.S. armed forces.

His career reached across congregational leadership, campus Jewish life, and military-related service. Sources note that he served as a chaplain with the American Expeditionary Force in France during 1918–19, later became national chaplain of the American Legion in 1929, and also directed the Hillel Foundation at Ohio State University. In the 1940s he worked with the National Jewish Welfare Board, continuing a long connection between his religious calling and public service.

Levinger is best remembered for books that made Jewish history and identity accessible to general readers and students. Among the works repeatedly associated with him are A History of the Jews in the United States, A Jewish Chaplain in France, Anti-Semitism Yesterday and Tomorrow, and, with Elma Ehrlich Levinger, Folk and Faith. His surviving papers at the University of Oregon include manuscripts, published articles, and correspondence, reflecting a lifetime spent writing, teaching, and interpreting Jewish experience in America.