Levavi was born the youngest of three sons to a wealthy
Russian Jewish family of good standing in the community and a lineage connected
directly to the famous Rabbi "The Vilnius Gaon" in Vilnius, Lithuania
in 1912. Levavi's mother fled with him and his brother to Danzig on the eve of
the Russian revolution. Orphaned of both parents Levavi's education and were
taken care of by his older brother Fima Leibman. He completed his studies in
philosophy, mathematics and physics at the universities of Heidelberg and
Danzig in 1930. After graduating he emigrated from Germany to Palestine, where
in 1932 he received his Master of Arts in Philosophy, at the Hebrew University
of Jerusalem.
He worked as a contributing writer for the daily newspaper
Davar in Palestine, until he was sent to Germany on a mission on behalf of the
HeHalutz Movement (1936–1938). When he came back to Palestine in 1938 he became
involved in integrating and coordinating various Zionist and political
movements until the formation of the state of Israel.
