This Reform movement catechism by Rabbi J. Leonard Levy was first published as “Our Creed” in The Children’s Service for Use in Religious Schools (1902). In the second edition from 1904, it is found on page 207. There, Rabbi Levy’s verse is described as a “translation,” which from the credit of the melody to “Leoni” (Meyer Lyon, 1751-1797) might lead one to consider it a revised Reform movement adaptation of some setting of Thomas Oliver’s “God of Abraham” (ca. 1771, itself a Christian adaptation of Daniel ben Yehudah Dayyan’s “Yigdal”). A cross-comparison however reveals this is not the case. Over at the Hymnology Archive, Chris Fenner uncovered a rhymed English derivation of Yigdal by Newton Mann (1836-1926) made at the request of Rabbi Max Landsberg (1845-1927).

“Trustfulness” by Rabbi J. Leonard Levy was first published in The Children’s Service for Use in Religious Schools (1902). In the second edition from 1904, it is found on page 223.

“Onward!”, a hymn by Rabbi J. Leonard Levy was first published in The Children’s Service for Use in Religious Schools (1902). In the second edition from 1904, it is found on page 217.

“A Prayer” by Rabbi J. Leonard Levy was first published in The Children’s Service for Use in Religious Schools (1902). In the second edition from 1904, it is found on page 209.

“The Passover” by Rabbi J. Leonard Levy was first published in The Children’s Service for Use in Religious Schools (1902). In the second edition from 1904, it is found on page 227.

The Children’s Service for Use in Religious Schools (1902) is Rabbi J. Leonard Levy’s prayerbook compiled for the religious school at Congregation Rodeph Shalom, a Reform movement synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The siddur is comprised of four children’s services and twenty supplemental services for special days on the calendar. A hymnal comprises a third section. This is the second revised edition of the prayerbook, printed in 1904, containing additional services and hymns.

A prayerbook compiled for Rodeph Shalom, a Reform movement congregation in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

This is the opening prayer to the Passover seder by Rabbi J. Leonard Levy to his Haggadah or Home Service for the Festival of Passover (1896) pp. 3-4, reprinted with different page numbers in subsequent editions. The prayer threads the needle between the particularly Jewish communal focus of Passover and the universalist themes that animated Levy’s Liberal Jewish mission.

This is the Ḳiddush the Passover seder by Rabbi J. Leonard Levy to his Haggadah or Home Service for the Festival of Passover (1896) pp. 4-5. The prayer does not appear in subsequent editions. The prayer threads the needle between the particularly Jewish communal focus of Passover and the universalist themes that animated Levy’s Liberal Jewish mission.

Haggadah or Home Service for the Festival of Passover, first published in 1896, was the novel seder liturgy of Rabbi Dr. J. Leonard Levy (1865-1917). It went through six editions during his lifetime, with a seventh posthumous reprint of the sixth edition published in 1922. There were major revisions to the second edition, and more minor adjustments subsequently. Here are the first three editions and the seventh edition, all courtesy of Dr. Ruth Langer.

This is a concluding prayer in the Hallel service at the Passover seder by Rabbi J. Leonard Levy to his Haggadah or Home Service for the Festival of Passover (1896) pp. 32-34. The prayer does not appear in subsequent editions. The prayer threads the needle between the particularly Jewish communal focus of Passover and the universalist themes that animated Levy’s Liberal Jewish mission.

This is the closing prayer by Rabbi J. Leonard Levy to his Haggadah or Home Service for the Festival of Passover (1896), reprinted in subsequent editions. The prayer threads the needle between the particularly Jewish communal focus of Passover and the universalist themes that animated Levy’s Liberal Jewish mission.

This translation Rabbi J. Leonard Levy of Shlomo ibn Gabirol’s “Adon Olam” was first published in The Children’s Service for Use in Religious Schools (1902). In the second edition from 1904, it is found on page 127.