Deceased Information

• DECEASED

  Elliott Levitas

  Eliyahu ben Yehudah Yoseph Halevy v'Itka

• AGE

  91

• DATE OF DEATH

  Friday, December 16, 2022 (After Sunset)

• DATE OF FUNERAL

  Monday, December 19, 2022

• TIME OF FUNERAL

  12:00 PM

• PLACE OF FUNERAL

  Ahavath Achim (AA) Synagogue, 600 Peachtree Battle Avenue, Atlanta, GA 30327

• FUNERAL STREAM

  FUNERAL RECORDING

  https://aasynagogue-org.zoom.us/rec/share/uuFnsHAzUslpWooIVsL3yxbH3SL6aY3Lc3Ciese-rUJBfJtYyU-WkK8g4lic2Ta3.8Qe_ms4uWh3Z025u

  Passcode: 6JqWjF?9

• PLACE OF BURIAL

  Arlington Memorial Park, 201 Mount Vernon Hwy, Sandy Springs, GA 30328

• SHIVA INFORMATION

  Monday from 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm at the home of Elliott and Barbara Levitas and

  
  

  TUESDAY via ZOOM ONLY from 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm. To attend via ZOOM

  Click HERE

  
  

  829 Castle Falls Drive, Atlanta, GA 30329
  
  

• DONATIONS

  • ❖ ADL Southeast

  • ❖ Georgia Conservancy

  • ❖ Southern Environmental Law Center

  • ❖ Ahavath Achim Synagogue

• OBITUARY

  1. Former Congressman Elliott Harris Levitas, one of Atlanta’s most distinguished citizens, passed away on December16th, 2022, ten days shy of his 92nd birthday. Levitas was the epitome of the dedicated public servant, who believed deeply in the power of American democracy and the potential for people with competing points of view to find common ground. In addition to his many accomplishments in public life, he will be remembered for his towering intellect, his wit and humor, his commitment to underserved communities, and his dedication to protecting the environment. Levitas was born in Atlanta on December 26, 1930, to Ida and Louis Levitas. He attended Boys High School and was in the first graduating class of Grady High School where he was awarded the Journal cup for outstanding student. He received his undergraduate and law degrees from Emory University. As a Rhodes scholar he obtained a Master of Law Degree from Oxford University in England. He served two years in the United States Air Force where, as a member of the Judge Advocate General’s staff. he tried more than a hundred cases. His career in private law practice began at the Atlanta firm of Arnall. Golden & Gregory, where he was a protégé of former Georgia Governor Ellis Arnall. In 1965, Levitas, elected to the Georgia House of Representatives, was a strong voice for racial justice. His first act as a legislator was to cast a dissenting vote in the House’s refusal to allow civil rights activist and Viet Nam war opponent Julian Bond to assume the seat to which he had been elected. Levitas was one of only five white legislators to vote to seat Bond, for which he received death threats. When the 1966 Governor’s race was thrown to the legislature for decision, Levitas, a staunch Democrat, refused to cast his vote for the Democratic nominee, an outspoken racist and cast his vote for the Republican. He served five terms in the Georgia Legislature where he was a leading proponent for the development of Atlanta’s rapid transit system, MARTA. At the end of each of his terms he was named "One of the Ten Most Effective Members" by his colleagues. In 1974, Levitas was elected to Congress from Georgia’s Fourth Congressional District as part of the Watergate reformers. During his ten years in Congress, Levitas earned the respect of his colleagues on both sides of the aisle as a pragmatist, consensus-builder, and one of the brightest and most thoughtful members of Congress. As chairman of a House oversight subcommittee, he led the successful investigation into the Reagan administration’s efforts to undermine the mission of the Environmental Protection Agency, which led to the firing of dozens of senior officials. Of particular note to Atlantans and all Georgians, both in the Georgia Legislature and in the US Congress, Levitas was a tireless champion for the creation and funding of the 10,000-acre Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area as a National Park. Upon leaving Congress, Levitas joined his long-time friend Miles Alexander at the Kilpatrick & Cody law firm (now Kilpatrick Townsend) where he practiced for over thirty years. He was proud to play a leading role in representing more than 300,000 Native Americans suing the United States government for breach of trust in connection with the lands and trust funds held by the United States since the 1880s. In the historic class action of Cobell v. Norton, the courts determined that the U.S. Department of the Interior had breached its fiduciary duty to the plaintiffs. The ensuing court ordered settlement negotiations resulted in a $3.4 billion award to plaintiffs – the largest class-action award against the government in United States history. Levitas was an active and observant member of the Atlanta Jewish community and the Ahavath Achim congregation and was involved in many Jewish organizations, dating back to his national debating success in AZA, the B’nai Brith youth organization. He was especially engaged in the work of the Anti-Defamation League and a vocal opponent of antisemitism. In 2008, Levitas received the Thomas B. Murphy Lifetime Achievement Award from the Democratic Party of Georgia. In 2012 he was awarded the prestigious Emory Medal, the highest University honor presented exclusively to alumni by the Emory Alumni Association, “for his commitment to civic service and his unrelenting defense of justice for our nation's underserved populations.” And in 2016 he was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award from Georgia’s legal community. The Political Science Department at Emory bestows the annual Elliott Levitas Award on its most outstanding graduating senior. Over the course of his career, Levitas served on many non-profit boards, including the Environmental Law Institute, the Southern Environmental Law Center, the Georgia Conservancy, and the Anti-Defamation League. Levitas was an avid tennis player and sports fan throughout his life and had wide-ranging interests outside of politics, including history and bluegrass music. In 1955, Levitas married his high school sweetheart, Barbara Hillman, who was a great source of strength and inspiration to him throughout his life. She survives him along with their three children Karin (Bob), Susan (Jake) and Kevin (Claudia), grandchildren Aria and Elaiya Een, Cydney and Annie Schwartz and Michael and Allison Levitas, and brother-in-law, Stuart Hillman. He was predeceased by his older brother, Ted Levitas, with whom he shared a special relationship and with whom he spoke every day. The family is eternally grateful for the excellent care given by Damar Barrett, Pauline Beckford, Vinton Thompson and Felix Manford.  Funeral services will be held 12:00 noon, Monday, December 19 at Ahavath Achim Synagogue, 600 Peachtree Battle Ave NW, Atlanta with interment following at Arlington Memorial Park.  Rabbi Laurence Rosenthal will officiate.  In lieu of flowers, the family has requested that donations be made to ADL Southeast https://support.adl.org/give/174715/? _ga=2.174112614.537798266.1671310715-1963628805.1671310715#!/ donation/checkout Georgia,  Conservancy https://georgiaconservancy.app.neoncrm.com/forms/donation, Southern Environmental Law Center https://donate.southernenvironment.org/give/279875/? _ga=2.84360921.1332194062.1671312194-1289027440.1671312194#!/ donation/checkout, Ahavath Achim Synagogue https://aasynagogue.org/invest-in-our-future/strengthen-our-community/, Or a charity of your choice.  Dressler's Jewish Funeral Care, 770-451-4999