Rabbi Pinhas Levin, a veteran leader of the world Aguda movement, died here yesterday at the age of 80 and was buried last night on the Mount of Olives. The son of the leading pre-war Polish Rabbi Hanoch Hacohen of Bandin and brother of the longtime world Aguda chairman and Israeli Minister and Knesset member Meir Levin, Pinhas Levin was himself active in Aguda affairs from an early age in pre-war Europe.
Arriving in Palestine in 1940, Levin immediately set about creating here the Beth Jacob Orthodox education network for girls which Hitler was destroying together with the rest of European Jewry. For many years Levin himself headed the main Beth Jacob Teachers Seminary in Jerusalem.
A broadly cultured man whose hobby was painting (he took his brushes and easel with him wherever he travelled), Levin also edited the Orthodox literary monthly Beth Jacob and, for a time, the Aguda daily Hamodia. He was a scion of the Hasidic House of Gur.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
