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Campus Rabbi Getzel Davis suddenly left Harvard Hillel after 12 years at the organization, surprising students in Hillel, who were not aware of his departure until it was announced in a Monday morning email to Hillel affiliates.

Davis, who has worked at Hillel since 2012, was promoted to campus rabbi and senior director of religious and spiritual life in August 2023. He also served as one of Harvard’s Jewish chaplains. In Monday’s email, he cited his family as the reason for his sudden departure.

“While my rabbinate and chaplaincy have been and continue to be immensely fulfilling, the needs of my young family are calling more urgently at this moment,” Davis wrote.

Davis was performing his regular duties up until Harvard’s spring recess last week, according to a person familiar with the matter.

But by Monday evening, his page had been removed from the Harvard Hillel website. In the email announcing his departure, Harvard Hillel Executive Director Jason B. Rubenstein ’04 “direct any questions that you would have brought” to Davis to Rubenstein or Harvard Hillel Orthodox Rabbi Noah Marlowe.

Both Davis and Rubenstein declined to comment beyond their emails to Hillel affiliates. A University spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment Monday evening.

Davis’s departure follows the exit of two other Harvard Hillel staff members from student-facing roles this school year. Former Director of Jewish Student Life Jacklyn Soffer announced her departure in October, and former Student Engagement and Outreach Coordinator Maggie Fayer stepped down in February. (Soffer left after the birth of her child, and Fayer left for a new job.)

With both Hillel’s student life director and campus rabbi positions open, Rubenstein has an opportunity to reshape the organization amid continued debates over its role as a center for Jewish life on campus. During Hillel’s most recent election, students debated how to maintain the organization’s political diversity while honoring institutional commitments to Zionism.

Rubenstein thanked Davis for guiding Jewish affiliates through the Covid-19 pandemic and the backlash that ensued after the University’s initial response to Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attacks.

“I can’t thank R’ Getzel enough for what he has given this place, this community, and a full half-generation of Jewish Harvard students: teaching, offering pastoral guidance, building links between the Jewish community and Harvard’s other communities - and most recently, guiding our community through the pandemic and the tumultuous year following 10/7,” Rubenstein wrote in the Monday email.

Rubenstein praised Davis for his ability to form meaningful relationships with anyone, irrespective of differences in opinion.

“Of the many people I have worked with, and observed, in higher education - none is a better exemplar of assiduously cultivating relationships with colleagues across difference,” Rubenstein wrote.

Davis wrote that he has confidence in Harvard Hillel under Rubenstein’s leadership.

“Through leadership transitions, the impact of the COVID pandemic, and the events and aftermath of October 7th, the community has evolved and now, with Rabbi Jason at the helm, it is clear to me that this is the right moment for me to step away from Harvard Hillel,” Davis wrote.

—Staff writer Samuel A. Church can be reached at samuel.church@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @samuelachurch.

—Staff writer Cam N. Srivastava can be reached at cam.srivastava@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @camsrivastava.