Born in Cleveland in 1939, Rabbi Davids received his BA magna cum laude from Case Western Reserve University, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. He was ordained from the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion (Cincinnati) in 1965, and he was subsequently awarded his Doctor of Divinity from HUC-JIR in recognition of his work worldwide on behalf of Jewish communities, and for his commitment to working with teens.
Following service as a Chaplain in the U.S. Army, Rabbi Davids served congregations in Wisconsin, Massachusetts, and New York before coming to Temple Emanu-El in 1992. Widely active in the Jewish community, Rabbi Davids’ most significant commitments have been to the Central Conference of American Rabbis (Chairman, National Youth Committee; Chairman, Israel Committee; National Executive Committee; “Father” of the Reform Zionist Platform, adopted by the CCAR in 1997); Alpha Epsilon Pi, which he served as International President, and from which he recently received its highest award, “The Order of the Lion; Association of Reform Zionists of America/ARZA (president 2003-2008); State of Israel Bonds (Honorary Life President of International Rabbinic Cabinet; national co-chair of the 1995 Israel Bonds Campaign).
He has also been honored by the National Conference of Christians and Jews for his interfaith work, and he was awarded Life Membership in the North American Federation of Temple Youth, in recognition of his decades of work with NFTY. Resa and Rabbi Davids made Aliyah in 2004, immediately following his retiring as Senior Rabbi of Temple Emanu-El and his election as our Rabbi Emeritus. Since 2014 they reside in Santa Monica.
Rabbi Davids has served on the Board of Governors of the Jewish Agency, on the Senior Executive of the World Zionist Organization, and on the Board of Overseers of the Jerusalem campus of the Hebrew Union College. He has published essays and articles in scholarly journals, and lectures throughout the United States.
Resa serves on the National Board of the Women of Reform Judaism, where she holds the WRJ/Israel portfolio. Resa opened and developed 25 chapters of WRJ/Israel in Reform congregations throughout Israel. The Davids are blessed with three children and 8 grandchildren and return to Atlanta annually to study with us.
Contact Rabbi Emeritus Davids ravdavids@gmail.com.
