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Moses Levy was the son of Eliahu Ha-Levi ibn Yuli (death circa 1800), a courtier and royal merchant, and his wife, Rachel, one of three wives in a plural marriage. The Ibn Yuli family were élite Sephardi Jews who served as court officials and advisers to the sultans of Morocco.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Moses Levy of Florida Jewish Utopian and antebellum reformer|author=Monaco, C. S.|date=cop. 2005|publisher=Louisiana State University Press|isbn=0807130958|oclc=799705796}}</ref>
In 1790 widespread atrocities directed against the Jewish community forced, the family to fleefled to Gibraltar, where Moses Levy grew to young adulthood. At eighteen Levy—having dropped the Yuli surname—left the region for the [[Danish Virgin Islands]], where he established himself as a leading merchant and shipper in [[Charlotte Amalie, United States Virgin Islands|Charlotte Amalie]], St Thomas. In 1803 he married Hannah Abendanone (1786–1872), the daughter of a local merchant, David Abendanone, and his wife, Rachel. They had four children. The youngest, [[David Levy Yulee]] (1810–1886), became the first Jew elected to the United States Senate, representing Florida. Moses Levy's firm of Levy & Benjamin pursued an extensive trade throughout the Caribbean. Philip Benjamin, one of his partners, was the father of [[Judah P. Benjamin]], future Confederate Secretary of State. Levy eventually left this firm and ran his own business centered in San Juan, Puerto Rico and then Havana, Cuba. His friendship with Alejandro Ramirez, the superintendent of Cuba and the Floridas, was influential in expanding Levy's business horizons. At one time Levy supplied General Pablo Morillo's massive expeditionary forces in Venezuela with food, munitions, and other supplies.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Moses Levy of Florida Jewish Utopian and antebellum reformer|author=Monaco, C. S.|date=cop. 2005|publisher=Louisiana State University Press|isbn=0807130958|oclc=799705796}}</ref>
Influenced by evangelical culture, in 1816 Levy underwent a spiritual epiphany, an event that was at least partially attributable to a rancorous and long-failing marriage. After a rare, formal divorce granted by the Danish king (1818) Levy abandoned a flourishing business in favor of a life devoted to what he called the "sacred cause" of reform. His plans included an "asylum" for Jews who were then suffering extensive abuse in post-Napoleonic Europe.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Moses Levy of Florida Jewish Utopian and antebellum reformer|author=Monaco, C. S.|date=cop. 2005|publisher=Louisiana State University Press|isbn=0807130958|oclc=799705796}}</ref>
<small>''Note: Moses Levy never commissioned a portrait of himself and so, unfortunately, there is no visual likeness available.''</small>
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