CLOSE-UP Lubavitch at 11 An ex-Miami newscaster tells why he switched to a spiritual channel. ELLEN BERNSTEIN Special to the Jewish News Open Mon.-Fri. 9-5 & Sat. 10-4:30. We repair watches on our premises. We will turn your ideas into jewelry. GORNBEIN JEWELERS Fidelity Bank Bldg. 24901 Northwestern Highway Southfield, MI 48075 357-1056 The $7.50 Plan is alive and well at k MONITRONICS DR1107E•11,1 l CELLAILAR 31051 Stephenson Hwy. Madison Heights 585-4520 32825 Northwestern Hwy. Farmington Hills 626-8480 We offer the lowest rates in town and the finest Panasonic equipment. #111WERITECii ICELLRET 0 MOBILE COMMUNICATIONS AUTHORIZED RESELLER We Feature Ameritech Cellular Service. 30 FRIDAY, MARCH 30, 1990 M 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.