It’s been well documented in Philadelphia Jewish Exponent that Lisa David and her husband, Rabbi Benjamin David, serve the Reform movement through their roles as executive director of URJ Camps and spiritual leader of Reform Congregation Keneseth Israel, respectively.

In that story about the couple’s relationship, Lisa also told Philadelphia Jewish Exponent about her deep commitment to camping. The Jenkintown resident didn’t even know it was a field until a JCC leader told her so during a summer internship.

She’s never looked back, working for the Union for Reform Judaism as associate director of camping from August 2004 to April 2014 and then URJ Camps ever since.

Both lifelong commitments started when David was young.

Reform Judaism

David grew up in Yardley in a household that was Reform after some deep reflection and compromise.

Her father was the son of Holocaust survivors who came to America and joined Beth Sholom Congregation in Elkins Park, a Conservative shul. Her mother was more secular and deeply committed to social justice.

The Reform movement was their natural home. They joined Shir Ami in Newtown when it was young and growing, before it moved to its current property on Richboro Newtown Road.

David’s father served as congregational president. Her mother engaged in community service projects.

“My mom was always committed to different ways of bringing social justice into our lives. My dad was all about commitment to community,” she said.

They always celebrated holidays in the home with extended family.

“We had these long Seders,” David recalled.

The family’s commitment to its chosen movement ran deep. They even sent their daughter to a Reform overnight camp, Harlam, where David now serves as executive director.

“It was just this immersive experience,” David said.

Camp

David started at Harlam, based in Kunkletown in the Poconos, the summer after fourth grade. She was a quiet kid, but she found herself at camp.

She recalled the moment when a counselor pointed out a strength of hers that she didn’t even recognize.

“I was the one who campers would bring out onto the porch to talk privately,” David recalled. “She pointed out, ‘You’re their person.’ I didn’t know that was a good thing, like a trait. ‘You’re a good listener.’”

Camp was also fun and more comfortable than school. David loved being outside, surrounded by other Jews and immersed in Jewish practices.

During David’s first summer, one of her counselors gave her a nickname. David’s maiden name is Beeber, so the counselor called her “Beebs.” It became her nickname until she got married.

“I think I just felt very seen. She took the time to get to know me,” David said.

The future camp director also remembered a unit head who was “this wacky, funny, creative, musical person and who introduced me to all those things.”

“Just being silly, which was not in my nature,” she recalled.

David met her husband at camp. She also later roomed with her best friend from Harlam at the University of Maryland.

David went to Maryland with the intention of working in the Jewish community. Then she talked to that JCC leader.

“I think first it was a commitment to working in the Jewish community and then specifically camp,” she said.

Camp still gives her that comfortable, light, immersive feeling.

“There’s something about an immersive communal experience,” she said. “It does actually transform people.”

Jewish parents often say that camp is more important than ever in this age of isolation and screens. David agrees.

“In the time we’re in, the world for kids feels so hard. Camp is this respite, and it also builds them up,” she said. “We participated in a research study that found that not only is it a respite, but you’re actually rebuilding these communication skills that you lose through screens. So it’s actually leading to higher functioning.”

This Fall

Though the role of a rabbi’s spouse is less official in Reform communities, David still tries to play a version of it at KI, one of the biggest synagogues in the Philadelphia area.

Rabbi David worked at Temple Sinai in Roslyn Heights, New York, from 2005 to 2012; Adath Emanu-El in Mount Laurel, New Jersey, from 2012 to 2022; and KI since 2022.

“I think each community that Ben’s been a part of looks a little different. When we came here, it’s a place where I already had relationships because of my own work. I think people recognize that each of us has our own work and impact,” David said. “I think I just try to be participatory, supportive and connected to people.”

This fall, the Reform Jew, camp leader and Jewish mom will actually have some time to herself. She’s researching art classes.

“It’s been a while since I had extra time like that,” she said.

jsaffren@midatlanticmedia.com