D

eborah Bat Levy could be described as a matriarch like her Biblical namesake who “arose a mother in Israel.” Judges 5:7 The Yiddish term Rabbitzin was once a common way to describe the wife of a rabbi. Within the Israelite community, the term that came to describe women who were not merely married to rabbis but whose own leadership role complimented that of a rabbi was “Rabbinet.” She is a woman of exceptional virtue, valor, wisdom, and outstanding service. All of these things accurately describe the exemplary leadership of Rabbinet Deborah Bat Levy.

Born Roxie Anna Byrd in Johnston County, North Carolina, on July 3, 1937 to Charlie Byrd and Minnie Jones Byrd, the future Rabbinet spent her formative years in Linden, North Carolina, where on August 22, 1953 she married her childhood sweetheart, Lawrence McKethan, who we would come to know as Chief Rabbi Levi Ben Levy. They moved to New York City and shortly there after met Chief Rabbi W. A. Matthew and joined the Commandment Keepers Congregation in Harlem. Their blessed union of forty-six years produced six children: Deborah, Yehudith, Tamar, Zipporah, Sholomo, and Benyamin. Today she is a happy grandmother, great grandmother, and Godmother to children of all ages and all those who come into her care.

A phenomenal woman who understood the essence of what it means to be a “help mate to him”; Gen 2:18 she was always at her husband’s side—including fishing and barbecuing—and helped to build two synagogues (Beth Shalom and Beth Elohim). Because of these accomplishments she is highly respected in her own rite throughout the Israelite community. In addition to being a wife, mother, and Rabbinet, she managed a successful twenty-five year career as a Nurse’s Aide at Bird S. Coler Hospital and as a foster mother for the mentally handicapped. Her community service included such things a being President of the Parent Teachers Association (PTA), Shop Stewardess of Local 440, and a member of the Queens Village Block Association.

When asked the secret of her success in life, she usually quotes the verse that has become her hallmark: “You shall Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your might….and teach thy children diligently when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.” Deut 6:5-7

She speaks often of the great mothers of the Israelite community who went before her such as Mothers Aycock, Beckels, Pilgrim, Delaney, and Ryan. She stands as one of the great Rabbinets of her generation with such women as Rabbinets Yahonatan, Poinsett, and White (to name only a few). Her fervent prayer is that the Israelite woman of tomorrow will follow in the foot steps of their predecessors and in the steps of our matriarchs Sarah, Rachel, Leah, and Rebecca.