Heritage Florida Jewish News - Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice

Southwest Orlando Jewish Congregation has a new student rabbi: Rabbi David Chapman, who will soon be entering his final year at the Jewish Theological Seminary. Rabbi Chapman’s journey to SOJC has a surprising starting point. Before he became a “professional Jew,” as he puts it, he had a successful career in theatre. 

“I worked as an assistant director on and off Broadway,” says Rabbi Chapman. “My first Broadway show was The Addams Family musical with Nathan Lane and Bebe Neuwirth. One of my favorite projects was producing PEW-ish, a night of original short plays inspired by the (in)famous Pew Study of Jewish Americans in 2013.” 

Rabbi Chapman’s theatre education and career took him across the world. He is a recipient of a U.S. Fulbright Grant for a year-long study in Budapest, Hungary, and he also received a Henry Luce Scholarship for a yearlong study in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. But despite these exciting ventures, he felt a different path was calling to him. 

“I realized I wasn’t enjoying my theater career as much as I thought I should be. One day, I had a life-changing conversation with a career coach who asked me, ‘If theater didn’t exist, what else would fill your life?’ My mind went back to my rich experiences as a leader in Hillel during college.” 

At the same time as this pivotal conversation, Rabbi Chapman was becoming more interested in Judaism and his Jewish identity. 

“My now-husband Jonathan and I started attending Friday night services together at Congregation Beit Simchat Torah, the LGBTQ+ synagogue in New York. I found that I loved bringing some elements of Shabbat into my week. Eventually, I joined the board of CBST and got to see the work of its amazing rabbinic leaders up close.” Rabbi Chapman gives Congregation Beit Simchat Torah credit for shaping much of his Jewish identity, and it is clear the community he found there meant a lot to him. 

Even though Rabbi Chapman has found a new calling as a rabbi, he has not left his interest in theatre completely in the past. 

“I am always looking for ways to weave together my background in theater with my rabbinic pursuits. When I was applying for a rabbinic internship at Sutton Place Synagogue in New York City, the rabbi asked what I might want to teach… I blurted out ‘Shakespeare and Torah!’” 

Even when he isn’t unpacking the Bard’s extensive use of biblical stories and language, Rabbi Chapman finds that his theatrical and rabbinical sides are closely linked. 

“In many ways, I ask the same questions as a rabbi as I did as a director,” he says. “When directing a play, my job was to take a play and study it, wrestle with it… and find a way to foster a connection between that play and the audience. As a rabbi, the ‘play’ is our Jewish tradition, including Torah, Shabbat, festivals, and thousands of years of commentary, stories, and history. The ‘audience’ is anyone who comes through the door – or into the Zoom room.” 

In a July 14th email from SOJC’s Board of Directors to the congregation, the board said that there was a “unanimous consensus” to select Rabbi Chapman to serve as the community’s spiritual leader. Rabbi Chapman is just as excited to be a part of SOJC as the congregation is to have him there. 

“From my first interactions with SOJC during the interview process, it was clear that this is truly a kehilla kedosha – a holy congregation,” he says. “I love how actively involved SOJC’s leadership is with every element of synagogue life. I love the emphasis on family engagement and lifecycle events. 

“I wanted to be a congregational rabbi because I believe deeply in the power of Jewish communities. I believe that being in community helps us achieve our individual and collective dreams.” 

And everyone at SOJC is eager to see what dreams we achieve together with Rabbi David Chapman.