Moshe Davis (January 12, 1916 in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

– April 19, 1996) was a rabbi and a scholar of American Jewish history who taught at the

Jewish Theological Seminary of America The Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS) is a Conservative Jewish education organization in New York City, New York. It is one of the academic and spiritual centers of Conservative Judaism as well as a hub for academic scholarship in Jewish studies ...

(JTS) and

Hebrew University The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; ) is an Israeli public research university based in Jerusalem. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Chaim Weizmann in July 1918, the public university officially opened on 1 April 1925. It is the second-ol ...

Biography

He was recipient of a BA from

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

in 1936, a BA from the Jewish Theological Seminary's Teachers Institute in 1937, rabbinic ordination from the Jewish Theological Seminary in 1942, and a Ph.D. from Hebrew University in Jerusalem in 1945. Davis was the first American to earn a doctorate at Hebrew University.. He held a variety of leadership positions at JTS, including serving as professor of American Jewish history, and at Hebrew University, where he was named the Stephen S. Wise Chair of American Jewish History and Institutions. In 1959, upon taking up his post in Israel, Davis established the Institute of Contemporary Jewry at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. His numerous books include ''The Emergence of Conservative Judaism'' (1963) and ''Israel: Its Role In Civilization'' (1956). Davis has been credited with being the creator of the academic field of America-Holy Land Studies, the field of studies focusing on the relationship between America and the Land of Israel. The

Camp Ramah Camp Ramah () is a network of Jewish summer camps affiliated with the Conservative Movement. The camps operate in the United States, Canada, and Israel. All Ramah camps serve kosher food and are Shabbat-observant. History During the 1940s, th ...

network of Jewish camps was also founded under the guidance of Davis and Sylvia Ettenberg.. As part of his efforts to build Hebrew language institutions in the United States, Davis also played a role in founding the college student organization Histadrut Hanoar Ha'Ivri, the Hebrew Arts Foundation, the Massad camps, and the Hebrew Arts School for Music and Dance.

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* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, Moshe 1916 births 1996 deaths 20th-century American historians 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century American rabbis American Conservative rabbis American male non-fiction writers American religion academics Columbia University alumni Jewish American academics Jewish American historians Jewish American non-fiction writers Jewish scholars Jewish Theological Seminary of America alumni