CLOSE-UP
Lubavitch at 11
An ex-Miami newscaster tells why he switched to
a spiritual channel.
ELLEN BERNSTEIN
Special to the Jewish News
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FRIDAY, MARCH 30, 1990
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Pho to by Ellen Bernstein
(Sale ends March 31, 1990)
iami Beach — At
dawn, most morning
newscasters write
last minute copy or apply
make-up before going on the
air. Jerry Levine, the
daybreak anchor at WPLG,
also put on tefillin.
This 30-year-old Brooklyn
native, who anchored
Channel 10's early morning
newscast in Miami, wasn't
comfortable observing the
mitzvah in a bustling news
room. Nor was it appropriate
to wear a yarmulke on the
air.
For these reasons, and a
growing desire to make a
contribution in the Jewish
world, Levine left a promis-
ing career and a potential six
figure salary in June to
direct the Aleph Institute, a
Chabad-Lubavitch educa-
tional organization best
known for its outreach to
Jewish prisoners.
A broad man in a crisp
white shirt and black
suspenders, Jerry Levine,
also known as Yosaif, com-
mands the room from behind
his desk at Aleph head-
quarters in Miami Beach.
The charismatic personality
and self-assured voice that
once brought viewers daily
news accounts, now com-
municates on another
channel — a spiritual one.
As he speaks, his hands
are clasped, resting on his
desk. He looks straight
ahead, projecting his words:
"Going into journalism, I felt
you could have a major im-
pact on your community. But
I've found more significant
ways to make an impact in
the Jewish world. As a jour-
nalist you can't get as in-
volved in supporting these
kinds of things."
Since leaving local news,
Levine has assumed a yup-
pified Chasidic look: a
stylish, tailored suit, slicked
black hair, a trim beard and
a black yarmulke. He chose
Lubavitch Chasidism
because it is "much more
directed at the Jewish soul,"
he says. "I never had a good
answer to why people would
die for religion. Not until I
started putting on tefillin a
year ago."
The transformation of
Jerry Levine began about
that time. He met Lubavitch
Rabbi Sholem D. Lipskar of
The Shul of Bal Harbor who
started teaching him how to
study Torah.
An ex-anchor for WPLG-TV, Levine now runs Aleph Institute.
Levine recalls that his ear-
ly religious education con-
sisted only of Sunday school
and a bar mitzvah. "My bar
mitzvah was so important
that the caterer decided on
the day," he says, chuckling.
As a young man, Levine
was always seeking truth. In
his teen-age years, he in-
quired into the super-
natural, says Craig Balletta,
a 21-year-old nephew, who
lives in Atlanta with
Levine's older sister, Susan.
"He always wanted to put
himself dead center in an
idea and find out if there's
any truth to it," Balletta
says.
Levine's television career
began in West Palm Beach
after he received a broadcast
journalism degree from
Florida State University.
Then he moved to the
Jacksonville market. There,
he produced an award-
winning investigative report
— an hour-long documen-
tary on industrial air pollu-
tion in Jacksonville. Five
years ago, he became a
reporter at Miami's WPLG,
an ABC affiliate. Among his
general assignments, Levine
covered Miami's Jewish
community. He worked his
way into the early morning
anchor job, helping to bring
the station from number
three to number one in its
time slot. Local television
observers and Levine's New
York agent predicted big
things for this bright,
energetic newscaster.
The last series Levine
produced was about the new
Jewish consciousness among
young Jews. After it aired,
he startled his co-workers by
saying he was joining the
Lubavitch movement —full
time.
'We had seen the change
in him," says Tom Sweeney,
assignment editor at WPLG.
"It was gradual enough that
it wasn't a shock. But we
were surprised that he
wanted to leave the busi-
ness."
"He seemed much happier
after he made that decision,"
says Lisa Petrillo of WPLG,
who co-produced consumer
reports with Levine. "Jerry
was much wilder, always
running to parties, 19
girlfriends on the phone. But
he was always looking for a
nice Jewish girl to settle
down [with] and have
children. I think he put his
values in order."
Last summer, Levine
married a woman from
Texas he met at synagogue.
In his Aleph Institute of-
fice, Levine is overseeing a
huge mailing of menorahs,
candles and prayer books to
about 2,500 Jews behind
bars in this country. "When I
was first told about the
Aleph Institute, I was
significantly impacted by the
things I was hearing."
Rabbi Lipskar, the
founder of Aleph, helped hire
Levine as executive director.
Lipskar says: "He is
dedicated to Jewishness."
But there are other
reasons behind Levine's hir-
ing. The ex-broadcaster
plans to bring the worldwide
Lubavitch movement into
the video age. He is incor-
porating the latest technol-
ogy into a series of tapes that
communicate the basics of
Judaism to contemporary
Jews. "We want to create
videos on the par with any
product in the U.S.."
He asks an interviewer to
imagine a five to seven
minute video on kosher.
"Potentially the most boring
thing to watch, right? But
add animation, digital op-
tics, fast-paced production,
incredible substance ... "
Stay tuned, folks.