Lee I. Levine is an American-born Israeli rabbi, archaeologist and historian of classical Judaism. He is a strong believer in the ability of the Jewish people and Judaism to adapt to local settings as a key to survival. He is the author of Judaism and Hellenism in Antiquity and The Ancient Synagogue, one of the most comprehensive texts on the subject.

Levine is a professor of Jewish history and archaeology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He received degrees at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America (JTS), where he was ordained as a Conservative rabbi, and Columbia University. He was a student of Gerson Cohen.

In 1961, Levine married Mira Karp, whom he met at Camp Ramah.^[1] Levine has also taught at Yale University and the Seminary of Judaic Studies in Jerusalem. He has directed several archaeological digs, among them a dig in Caesarea and the excavation of the Hurvat Amudim Synagogue.

Published work

• The Ancient Synagogue: The First Thousand Years, Second Edition, Yale University Press, 2005
• Jerusalem: Portrait of the City in the Second Temple Period (538 B.C.E.-70 C.E.), Jewish Publication Society of America, 2003
• Judaism and Hellenism in Antiquity: Conflict or Confluence?, Hendrickson Publishers, 1999
• Rabbinic Class of Roman Palestine in Late Antiquity, Jewish Theological Seminary of America, 1990