Lori Levi never set out to become a trailblazer. But across a life shaped by change, service and perseverance, from police officer to chef to personal trainer, she’s done just that.
Levi, now fitness and personal training supervisor at the Sid Jacobson JCC, has carved a path that’s uniquely her own. A proud member of the LGBTQIA+ community, she says the JCC is more than just where she works. It’s home.
“I get to help people. I get to be creative. I get to be in an environment that’s accepting to me as a Jew and as a member of the LGBTQ community,” Levi said. “It’s the complete package.”
Her journey to East Hills was far from typical. Raised in a modern Orthodox home in Brooklyn, Levi spent 12 years in yeshiva and married at 19, expecting to follow a traditional path.
“In my community, we were on a track,” she said. “College, marriage, a family. That was the expectation.”
But in early adulthood, Levi began to confront questions about her identity. Coming out to her parents after her divorce was painful.
“My parents did not take it very well,” she said.
Still, she moved forward with clarity. She enrolled in EMT school, driven by a desire to serve others, and perhaps to restore some of the pride she felt she had lost within her family.
“I just wanted to help people,” she said. “To do something honorable.”
A chance encounter at a Brooklyn emergency room changed her life. A police officer who had seen her in action encouraged her to apply to the NYPD.
“He told me I’d make a good cop,” Levi recalled. “So I took the test.”
She joined the department in 1988 and graduated in the top 5 percent of her class. For nearly eight years, Levi served in New York City, earning recognition as Police Officer of the Month and eventually winning over the support of her family.
“I was always told, ‘You can’t make a difference,’” she said. “But I knew I did. I saved lives. I reunited a lost child with their parents. I helped victims of domestic abuse. That was the impact.”
An injury while making an arrest forced her early retirement in 1995, after requiring reconstructive surgery on her wrist.
“I knew I couldn’t fully perform my duties anymore,” she said. “And I would never put someone else at risk because of that.”
At just 35, Levi wasn’t ready to slow down. With a lifelong passion for cooking, she enrolled in culinary school and eventually spent over two decades in the restaurant industry, including running her own establishment, Ben’s Luncheonette, in Williamsburg.
“I grew up sitting on the counter next to my grandmother and mother,” she said. “Cooking is in our DNA.”
Though she thrived in the culinary world, Levi had another calling: fitness. Certified as a personal trainer in 2012, she began working one-on-one with clients. When she decided to pursue it full-time, she applied to many gyms, but one stood out.
“The JCC was where I really wanted to be,” Levi said. “I went to JCC camp in Pennsylvania as a child. I knew it was where I belonged.”
She joined Sid Jacobson JCC in 2014 and now leads the fitness team with purpose, visibility and authenticity. She is open about her identity with members who may be looking for connection or acceptance.
“It’s important that they know they’re not alone,” she said. “If I can be that person for even one member, I’ve done my job.”
Her leadership is recognized across the organization.
“Lori lights up the JCC, making staff and members alike feel right at home with her energy and care,” said Lisa Rosenkrantz, the center’s chief operating officer.
Steve Miller, director of health and wellness, echoed that sentiment.
“Lori brings more than fitness, she brings heart, energy and a sense of belonging. Her passion inspires all of us,” he said.
Levi believes that creating a more inclusive world starts with how we treat one another.
“I taught my daughter that everyone deserves respect,” she said. “You don’t have to agree with someone’s lifestyle, you just have to treat them like a human being.”
Looking back, Levi credits her Orthodox upbringing for instilling in her a strong moral foundation.
“It gave me a moral compass,” she said. “And the understanding to treat others how I would want to be treated.”
At the JCC, Levi has found the rarest thing of all, a place where she can bring her full self to work.
“I can be myself here,” she said. “And what’s better than that?”
