We miss you every day Bobby; it’s shocking it’s been 5 years.  We love you & you are missed by so many.  Rest in peace…

Dear Bob,

I don't usually write to people who have already passed on, but with you I'll make an exception.   Wherever you are, know that  I'm thinking of you,  that I love you and that I miss you.  You left us way too soon.  But my memories of you and our deep friendship are an endless source of joy and inspiration.

Sending love always,
Elshka

An honor and a joy to have had Bob as one of my bnai mitzvah tutors. His gentleness and care and competence always brightened my days as well as those children he worked with. His loss is enormous and he will always be missed. I know how many lives he touched. And only wish we had not lost him.

Still love you and miss you, Bobby.  What I wouldn't give to have a rousing, passionate discussion with you about the current state of affairs!  XXXOOO

I can’t tell you how often I think, “I have to talk to Bob about this.”   And then I remember and I am so sad.

3 years, right?  Unbelievable.  His picture sits on my altar so I see his gorgeous smiling punim every day.  Love you, Bobby, and miss you so.

Thanking about him again and again with much love.

So many times I find myself thinking “I need to talk to Bob about this” or “What would Bob think?” Only to be followed by the inevitable realization…
Now there’s something new: “I wish Bob was here to meet his newest tiny cousin” - Avery Mae Levin, born 3/1, our granddaughter. She would bring him so much joy even from far-away Boston. And his joy would be infectious and irresistible.  Needless to say, he was the first one to visit us on the birth of our daughter, Ariel, whom he loved so much.
His memory is truly a blessing; we miss him, oh, how we miss him.
Steve & Janet & Ariel 

I remember the early morning in February 1994 when the big Northridge Earthquake hit.  Bob called David and I right away FROM ROMANIA!! to see if we were ok.  That's how Bob was.  So caring.  Two days before he passed, he called to wish me a happy Mother's Day.  I miss Bob every single day and he will always be in my heart.

Batya Ordin
5/12/23

Bob tutored many of Temple Judea's children for many years.  He brought his warm, compassion, tenderness, to every student.  I did not know of his passing until now, July 21, 2021.  But I am deeply saddened.  He will be missed by the thousands of students whose lives he touched.

As I conclude teaching this semester at HUC,  I am saddened that Bob and I cannot schmooze about our students, their writings, the hope and their vulnerabilities.  We did exactly that over lunch on Larchmont at the Le Petit Greek for years, including our many  Wilshire Boulevard Temple years....I miss his smile, his insight, his warmth and our shared history. 
I wish his family strength to sit with his memories and hold them dear.
Zichrono Lvracha-- with Love Karen 

Dear Friends,

Last night I dreamed we got to a restaurant and Bob was there, waiting. He was talking. I put my hand on his shoulder to make sure it was really him and he was really okay. For a moment, everything felt peaceful. But then I woke up and it was only a dream.

Howard

Through my tears, remembering the many celebrations we shared. Bob, along with my mother, was a witness at our wedding.  He brought us the beautiful lilies. 

And then there were the many Seders we shared. And just hanging out with friends. 

A few photos....

Loved Ones of Bob-I have attached  4 pictures with Bob.  The top 2 are with him and myself many years ago.  The bottom left is Bob officiating at my nephew Aaron's wedding who is now 43 and the bottom right is at a dinner after a Gay Rights March in DC in the late '80s where a bunch of us gathered to march together.  My heart  is broken open.  

This one was taken at our Wedding in 1989.

Here are two photos of Bob.  This one is from Bob's birthday bash in January 1993.

Bob was a close friend of my husband Rabbi Robert Baruch. During my Bob's last illness two years ago, Bob Levy came repeatedly to visit with him, to chant and pray with him. He spoke at Bob's memorial and afterwards was a steadfast friend to me, coming over frequently and calling and texting to see how I was doing. Such a wonderful magnificent man – I am so grateful he was in our lives and so devastated at his going. 

Dearest Bob ... I called your phone late Wednesday night because I couldn't believe that the upbeat guy who called me on Sunday just to check in between students was THE Bob Levy about whom I had just received impossible news. Please excuse my odd message ... "so, this means you're ... OMG. NO!" I can promise you that my tears are so bitter sweet with memories of your kind friendship. Thanks for your sheltering hugs (I fit under your arms!) and your love of robust singing familiar piyutim in shul. Thanks for setting up the BCC "cabaret" so that we could enjoy Stephanie Valadez's haunting music. Thanks for suggesting that we should go sailing  (and now I'm a volunteer deckhand at the LA Maritime Institute's student program, but you were always too busy teaching.) Thanks for deeply protecting my soul without judgement when I was struggling to pull myself out of the depths of an impossible relationship. Thanks for dinners in K-town and for sharing some of your ups and downs. Your students shared that you were known as "Bob Mitzvah" around WBT; another suggested that you may indeed be one of the Lamed Vavs of our time. In any case, you were one in a million zillion. 

Bob Levy and I met in the very first years of AJRCA. He was friendly, kind, generous, interesting and funny. We immediately became good friends. Bob was curious and asked many questions about our lives in Israel, particularly details about the war days we went through during the Six Day War in 1967 and Yom Kippur War in 1972. As a result, Bob invited me to talk to his students about it and answer their questions. 
At a dinner party once at our friends' house, we were happy to find Bob there. That was a start of long friendship between us, Bob and the hosts of this party. We would go out to lunch or dinner, and always have fun being together.
We love you, Bob. We will miss you, Bob. May his memory be a blessing.
Vered Hopenstand

Bob was my teacher this year at AJRCA, and was by far one of the best teachers I ever had. I won't talk about his genius and passion for teaching, and his love for Jewish history.

I am a remote student. The two times I was in person, he ran up to me and gave me a hug. The only other person in my life to run up to me and give me a hug was my wife, and even then only when we were dating. I saw Bob greet many other present and past students this way.

He was a remarkable and loving person.

Professor Bob Levy was as everyone mentioned, a true mensch. I loved his class  but more significantly I felt connected to him.
     Once when I was struggling after I lost a job that I loved, he shared with me the way he had chosen to make his life work by piecing things together and doing what he loved. This conversation helped me in ways I can’t even describe. I respected him and he gave me permission to live life on my own terms. 
    I connected with the pain in his eyes and understood it. I didn’t know about his struggle with HIV / AIDS but I knew he had great empathy and that he must have gone through so much. I could feel that. 
    We are all better humans having been seen and learned from him. 
          Zichrono Livracha. Bob’s memory is a blessing to be sure but the sadness remains.
                   Rebekah Mirsky
                   (AJR cantorial iodine 2010) 


Bob Levy was a wonderful person and truly a fantastic teacher. Before he was even my professor, I remember I could occasionally hear his loud voice booming his lectures from a few rooms away. Once I was in his class, I could clearly see why: because he was SO passionate about teaching Jewish history! Jewish history is a big passion of mine as well and something I had made the effort to study in the past, but Bob had a way of bringing in new perspectives  and encouraging students to think creatively about history, and his class will always stick out in my mind as one of my favorites. I was shocked and dismayed to hear of his passing, and I am so sad that the next generation or two of students at AJRCA won't have the incredible privilege of learning from him. He will stay in our hearts for a long time to come, and I will aim to share my passion for Jewish history with my students down the line as he did. He inspired and will continue to do so for a long time to come.

Bob Levy broke through our certainties. He presented narratives about Israel that shattered our innocence. We had lived there, worked there, had the answers. Bob gave us a sleepless semester. And opened our reluctant eyes. And yet so kindly, gently, patiently.  He remembered each of us, and we remember him, and now mourn him deeply.  His kind of goodness and brilliance is rare and treasured. 

I took only one one-semester class with Dr. Bob Levy during my rabbinical training at the Academy for Jewish Religion, California, but that  class moved me and changed me forever. It was in maybe 2004 or 2005, a class titled "The History of the State of Israel." The material was challenging for us rabbinical students, and Bob pulled no punches. He gave us texts that unfolded the history of the nascent Jewish state from every painful, heart wrenching angle, and he empathized with our struggles to somehow make sense of the fearful, opposing forces that led to the seemingly intractable conflicts, as well as to the beauties and triumphs of the present-day state. Through it all, we could feel Bob's empathy, and he encouraged us to feel as well--to experience history inside ourselves, in our bodies as well as through our intellects. He assigned us classroom presentations that challenged each student to make the materials her or his own. I left every class in tears over the rock-and-a-hard-place realities that pressed in upon the founders of the modern Israeli state, the horrible injustices on all sides. At the end of the semester, Bob said to us, "You guys have worked so hard, I'm not going to given you a final. Don't tell anyone!" He was a great teacher, and he knew that learning is not measured by tests, but by the depth of the students' engagement with the material. We learned because he inspired us to engage fully; he modeled that engagement, and supported us to do the same. And though I'd only taken one course with him, every time I ran into him at an AJRCA event, for years after my ordination, he would make a point of saying hello, of asking me how things were going, and make me feel welcomed in his presence. Bob Levy was a true mensch, and the world is impoverished by his absence.
May Bob's family and friends be comforted among all who mourn in Israel and in the world,
Rabbi Diane Elliot

Bob (or Dr. Levy, as I knew him) was my teacher for two courses at AJRCA.  He was a creative teacher and a wonderful human being.  He was the first to teach me how to slow down in order to speed up.  During my last semester with him, he asked all students to not use laptops for note-taking, rather to use a pen and paper as, he claimed, the physical act of writing imprinted the information on the brain better than typing.  He was correct, and I am glad he asked us to do so because now he is indelibly in my memory.  And may his memory be for a blessing.

I knew Bobby for nearly fifty years, since 1971, when he was in high school, and I maintained my friendship with him ever since. He visited me in Santa Monica and took videos of my infant son; I visited with his family in Encino and was pleased to get to know his family. He matured into a veritable intellectual. He went through tough times, but rarely, if ever, complained. He did what he had to to do. 

And that is the strength and inspiration I gather from Bobby.  His life was not easy, but he kept the difficult stuff to himself and did not burden others – he could have and maybe should have; only God knows.  He was an absolute example of strength and endurance. And that is the memory and inspiration that will remain with me of Bobby.  He did what he had to do.

May his memory be a blessing to his family and many friends.

Bobby was a long-term survivor; every day living HIV positive is a bit of a miracle. He'd been through so many treatments, from Chinese herbs (like drinking fire) to the latest and greatest cocktail - many iterations. Some were harsh with unfortunate side-effects:  neuralgias, fatty deposits, cognitive difficulties, malaise, and on and on. That he survived 30+ years living with AIDS, had a productive life full of friends and family, published a major book, taught and touched so many people,  is a testament to the person he was.

He was always a presence in our lives. First to meet our daughter, Ariel, when she was born, he was there for our Mom, and our Dad at the end, and everything in between. He loved and cared for us all. He was so easy to love.

Cousins by blood, though we didn't meet until we were in college, we were friends by choice, by affinity, shared interests, and whatever it is that keeps people together for more than 40 years. I always loved it when we could get together for dinner. His working so hard at 2 or 3 jobs, and my crazy hours made it challenging but always worth it. He'd drive far and wide, all over LA, or 200 miles to see us in SB.

A couple things about Bob: When he was with you, you knew you were all that mattered. Everything else was blocked out; that intense and genuine interest never let up until the conversation was over. And when he hugged you, and he always hugged you, you were hugged like there was no tomorrow, as if it was the last time he'd ever see you. In fact, when we were all together at our father's shiva, way back in February, it was the last hug...

So many adjectives come to mind describing this very special person. Anyone who knew him even a little knows he was genuine, loving, hardworking, passionate, committed, righteous, smart, so smart, kind, loyal...The world is truly diminished by his loss.  His memory will be a blessing  as we try to be the person he knew we were.    

Dear Bob,

I am still in shock over the news and find it hard to believe and accept.  When I saw you last you were in good health and good spirits, and were upbeat about the future.  I miss you terribly.  You were one of the first friends I made after I moved to LA from the Bay Area, and I enjoyed our discussions about NoCal vs. SoCal. One of my happiest memories was joining you in Paris in 1989 and helping with translations as you researched your landmark book on Ana Pauker.  I am so grateful for your kindness and friendship through the years.  In so many ways you were like a brother I never had.  Rest in peace, my friend.  

I hadn't spoken to him in 25 years.  And before that, not for another good 20 years. We were elementary school pals. In those days, he was known as "Robert Levy," one of the five Roberts who quickly were known by their last names because there were too many Roberts.
He could be funny and dramatic, reciting comedy routines from "You Don't Have to be Jewish" albums as easily as other kids rattled off ballplayers.  Before there was video or iPhones, 10 year old Robert was making silent 8mm films.  He was joyous, a member of our exclusive Friday afternoon club, when our Moms drove the five of us out for a weekly adventure.
And then something happened.
After junior high school, we drifted far apart. He seemed darker, almost bitter. The light of his happiness all but extinguished. The last time I saw him, he left us feeling disconnected and I knew we'd never see him again.
I hope he found some happiness along the way. I hope he's at ease, at peace and finding happiness now.
I still wonder if he knew how much we liked him and enjoyed his company. I suppose I always will.
Rest easy, my long lost friend.

A letter to Bob:

My dearest friend,
You are and have always been a beautiful caring soul and heaven is celebrating your return. I am honored to have known you for so long and for our friendship that evolved over the many years we worked together. Safe journey home my friend until we meet again.  A piece of you will always be in my heart.

Phil


Bob Levy was my friend. He was my co-worker. He was someone I could talk to and share so much with. He would come into my office, have coffee, talk about his week or his weekend or plans for holidays, etc. But he would always ask me how I was doing. How my kids were doing - he knew my daughters. He was a wonderful person with a big heart. He was also very smart. 
I loved asking him questions about things I did not know the answer to. I always felt like he knew so much. 
He loved working with students at WBT. Through the years - he has worked with so many teens - I cannot count how many families know him or know of him. The power to teach students in Hebrew their Torah and Halftorah portions - only he could do that. He was patient. He listened. He understood them. 
He and I worked together at Wilshire Boulevard Temple. I have known him for 17 years. I will miss him dearly. I will miss seeing him walk into my office wearing his red shirt and jeans and having a cup of coffee with me.

Love you Bob. May the heavens be brighter !

To say that Bob was a caring, loving soul is an understatement. He made each of his many many friends feel that they were his closest. He would frequently call to check in and make sure everyone was ok. Though a published and acclaimed scholar and a beloved and respected teacher, Bob was very humble and unassuming. He brushed off any praise or compliment.  He devoted himself to his family, his colleagues, his many students and friends.  There are no words to express the enormity of my loss as I mourn Bob’s passing. I am bereft. My heart goes out to his family and all who knew and adored him. 

AVIS DE DÉCÈS

Robert Mark Levy

1 janvier 1957 – 12 mai 2020

Groman Eden Mortuary & Eden Memorial Park

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