Modeling Leadership in Memphis: Noam and Dr. Deena Davidovics

In a city like Memphis, whose Orthodox community has a long and proud history of community builders, Noam and Dr. Deena Davidovics are continuing the legacy. Courtesy of the Davidovics family

High on the list of things Noam Davidovics never thought he’d do is stay up all night in a sweltering parking lot, tending to brisket on a barbeque.

But if giving up a night of sleep was what his shul needed him to do, he was all in. And his efforts paid off when his slow-cooked brisket won an award for the Young Israel of Memphis’s booth at the city’s annual ASBEE Kosher BBQ Contest & Festival.

“All in” is an apt description of Noam and his wife, Dr. Deena Davidovics, who have spent more than thirteen years giving of their time and talents to help strengthen the Orthodox community in Memphis, Tennessee.

Noam is currently the president of the Young Israel of Memphis, which he describes as “very grassroots.” The presidency is not only about running board meetings but also about literal heavy lifting. Noam can frequently be found at the shul, setting up, cleaning up and pitching in on various projects around the building.

Young Israel is the smaller of the two Orthodox synagogues in Memphis. It is located just down the street from the more historic Baron Hirsch Congregation, which traces its roots back to the 1800s. The city’s eruv encompasses both shuls, as well as the Orthodox day school, Margolin Hebrew Academy/Feinstone Yeshiva of the South (MHA/FYOS). A Chabad congregation is in a suburb about ten minutes away.

The historic Baron Hirsch Congregation traces its roots back to the late 1800s. Courtesy of Baron Hirsch Congregation

When he’s not busy with the shul, Noam is an IT professional and helps support technology infrastructure at MHA/FYOS. Deena recently served as president of the Board of the school, where she has also chaired major fundraising efforts over the years, including its annual sweepstakes and ad journal. Additionally, she is a member of the chevra kadisha.

The couple believes that everyone—in every community—has something they can contribute to the klal, and when people do their part, the community is stronger for it. Whether they are lobbying the city for a crosswalk or volunteering to coach a flag football team, they feel fortunate that their five children, who range in age from ten to twenty-two, are learning this lesson in real time, growing up as part of Memphis’s close-knit frum community.

The Davidovicses moved to Memphis in 2012 when Deena accepted a position at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, where she is now the director of the Division of Quality of Life and Palliative Care.

Life in a smaller Jewish community was new to Noam and Deena, who grew up in Englewood, New Jersey, and Miami Beach, Florida, respectively. They met as New Jersey NCSY advisors and moved several times during Deena’s medical training. But it was their time in Baltimore, prior to coming to Memphis, that ended up being formative.

The Davidovicses’ two oldest children were enrolled at Yeshivat Rambam when the school announced in 2011 that it was closing due to financial challenges. “It was a painful experience as parents,” says Noam. “It dominated every discussion, every Shabbat meal. We all questioned if we could have done more.”

It was during that period that the couple got involved in communal work. “The experience in Baltimore made us realize that things can actually fall apart,” says Noam. “It’s not theoretical. We can’t take it for granted that an institution will survive without hard work.”

The awareness of just how much goes into keeping a school running is front and center in Memphis, says Dr. Larry Wruble, a retired gastroenterologist who has been actively involved in Memphis’s Orthodox community for more than sixty years—including serving as president of Baron Hirsch and “at least twice” as president of MHA/FYOS. “This is the type of place where people roll up their sleeves and see how they can help. I believe people are more involved here than elsewhere because we feel ownership in a way that someone might not in a larger community.”

MHA/FYOS was founded in 1949 and serves about 200 students. The school is co-ed from preschool through eighth grade and includes separate girls’ and boys’ high schools, both of which have welcomed dorming students from other cities.

“The experience in Baltimore made us realize that things can actually fall apart. . . . We can’t take it for granted that an institution will survive without hard work.” 

Although having only one Orthodox school in town can sometimes be a point of friction, Deena embraces it as a unique feature of Memphis. “We’ve got all hashkafot here, all types of Jews,” she says. In fact, the school’s beit midrash is used regularly by both the members of the Memphis Kollel and the Israeli shlichim in the Torah MiTzion Kollel. “The school is truly the heart of the community, and we can see there’s a reason to work together for a common good,” she adds. “There is a unity that you don’t see so often elsewhere.” In fact, loyalty runs deep at MHA/FYOS, where a surprising number of current students have parents and grandparents who are also alumni.

In a city like Memphis, whose Orthodox community has a long and proud history of community builders, Deena and Noam are in good company, adds Dr. Wruble. “But just like we don’t take our school for granted, we don’t take anyone for granted. Even on top of their jobs and everything else, the Davidovicses have done so much for the community.”

Both Noam and Deena are passionate about increasing the opportunities for Torah learning in Memphis. To that end, they have hosted and given shiurim, spearheaded an annual Shavuot learning program for girls, co-sponsored scholar-in-residence programs and more.

A few years back, Noam heard his brothers in Israel talking about a new in-depth halachah shiur they were attending, and he wanted to join the program, too. So, in his usual quiet way, he got to work.

“Noam approached us to ask if we’d consider bringing the OU’s Semichas Chaver Program (SCP) to Memphis,” says Rabbi Yosef Braha, rosh kollel of the Memphis Kollel. “He did the recruiting for the initial cohort, and he continues to recruit participants with every new semester. SCP has been our most successful, long-standing program, with a solid group coming each week.” Additionally, he says, Noam has dedicated hours of his time to create review sheets for the tests—which are now shared with more than 250 other SCP groups around the world. “Thanks in part to Noam’s energy and commitment, the group in Memphis is bigger than in much larger cities, and the program is really changing people’s relationship with halachah, learning and observance.”

Small Community, Big Heart

The Orthodox community in Memphis numbers about 200 families, accounting for a fairly high proportion of the estimated 10,000 Jews in the city. Although the cost of living is about 10 percent below the national average, the community still grapples with the universal challenge of how to make Jewish life both affordable and sustainable.

With limited kosher options at the hospital, members of the community volunteer to cook and deliver meals—often over the course of weeks or even months. 

“In a small community,” Deena says, “it takes on added significance because we simply don’t have large numbers in our favor. With such narrow margins, if a family moves away, we feel it. While people are truly happy to help out, it sometimes feels like the same people are continuously tapped for their time and donations.” Recognizing this challenge, several years ago Dr. Wruble spearheaded an effort to recruit new families to Memphis. Noam built the website. While the number of Orthodox households has grown in recent years, it’s been more of a trickle than a wave.

This year, Tennessee introduced Education Freedom Scholarships (aka “vouchers”), which many people are hopeful will be a financial benefit to current families and help attract more in the future. As the only Orthodox day school in the state, MHA/FYOS took an active role in advocating for the opportunity in partnership with other local private schools.

“Opportunities like this serve as a reminder that we are not isolated,” Deena says. This idea was especially driven home when, as president of the school, she welcomed Tennessee Governor Bill Lee and US Congressman David Kustoff to MHA/FYOS to discuss safety and security in the weeks following October 7. “It’s so clear that what we do in our small community can have an impact on a wider level and create a kiddush Hashem.”

In her professional role, Deena has a front row seat watching the quiet chesed that happens in Memphis on a regular basis. Her colleagues at St. Jude usually notify her when a Jewish family is coming for their child’s cancer treatment. With limited kosher options at the hospital, members of the community volunteer to cook and deliver meals—often over the course of weeks or even months.

On one memorable occasion, the community came together to make a bar mitzvah at Young Israel for a boy whose sister was getting treatment at St. Jude and wasn’t able to travel. From preparing the kiddush to arranging Shabbat meals for out-of-town guests, every detail was taken care of, on par with any local simchah. “You would never have known that most people here hadn’t met the family before that Shabbat,” Deena notes.

That event was possible because community members are used to working together, she explains. “The systems are in place so that people are always helping each other. When someone is sick, has a baby or is making a simchah—it’s not just their circle of friends or a committee that helps. We all step up.”

At the end of the day, Deena and Noam are grateful that their children are growing up in a community where leadership is modeled all around them. “They see that instead of waiting for something to happen, we can make it happen,” says Deena, “and that there’s real value in being so devoted to something greater than ourselves.”

Rachel Schwartzberg is a writer and editor who lives with her family in Memphis, Tennessee.