Rabbi Daniel Levitt has long been a rabbi in the world of higher education, but his last post was a little different than the one he has now.
Currently, Levitt is the director of the Daniel and Louise Cohen Adult Jewish Learning Program at Gratz College. Prior to that, he served as executive director of the Hillel at Temple University. While he loved working with undergraduate students, he wanted to make a change and found the position at Gratz.
“It was important work, and it’s fun and meaningful,” he said. “My passion is for connecting Jews to the wisdom of Jewish intellectual heritage, of studying their Torah, not from a perspective of trying to make people religious, just for an appreciation of the beauty of our tradition.”
Levitt spent numerous hours over the past few years — especially during the pandemic — helping Jewish students explore traditional texts. That time showed him that for many Jews, the barrier to entry isn’t an inherent level of interest. Lots of Jews, Levitt said, are naturally curious about their history and heritage.
“There is so much interest amongst Jewish people in knowing what the Torah has to say, knowing what medieval Jewish texts have to say,” he said. “To do that from a place where people feel comfortable, they don’t feel pressured, they feel welcome and they’re not worried that someone’s going to try to convert them or make them more religious, but just to have an open-minded way to engage with our tradition was something I’ve noticed that people have a longing for, and I want to build upon that.”
In his role at Gratz, he gets to do just that. Levitt teaches a handful of classes each week. On Mondays, he has what he calls his most “eclectic and popular class,” called “All Things Jewish.” In that class, he covers “just about any topic,” he said.
“I encourage our students to suggest topics as well. We’ll look at what the texts say, and we discuss,” Levitt said.
On Tuesday afternoons and Thursday mornings, he teaches a class where students look at specific, early-modern Jewish texts. On Wednesdays, Levitt holds a parsha class.
“We study different approaches to aspects of wisdom in each weekly parsha,” he said.
The classes are made up of Jews from all different backgrounds, which means that many of the students learn as much from each other as they do from Levitt. He said he hears from more religious Jews that it is helpful to be in an environment like this often.
“People who’ve come from Orthodox backgrounds have come up to me privately to share with me how meaningful it is for them to have the opportunity to study with people with different backgrounds, who ask different types of questions, who create openings for them to learn or even be reminded of certain basics that they hadn’t learned yet, and that is very meaningful and rewarding,” Levitt said.
He added that it’s been a similarly wonderful experience for those who don’t come from as much of a religious background but are looking to grow more into Judaism as adults.
“People who don’t go to synagogue, who feel lost in looking for community, have found that this is a great outlet to feel connected, to give them their time and resources, to build community and be part of a community that’s all been very meaningful,” Levitt said.
Levitt may be in Bala Cynwyd now instead of North Philly at Temple University, but he loves the community all the same. The Merion Shtiebel and Lower Merion Synagogue member said that, while he has lived in a handful of places, there is something special about Philadelphia.
“I like the people here,” he said. “There’s more of an ability to be yourself here and to connect with people despite differences. Being able to connect to Jews of all backgrounds is very important to me. That’s something I’ve always done professionally, and I think the world would be a better place if more Jews were comfortable and actively engaging with Jews who practice differently.”
