David P. Efroymson, award-winning professor emeritus at La Salle, former religion department chair, lecturer, and author, has died at 91
He was an animated teacher who loved having an audience, and his research, teaching, and lectures often focused on Jewish-Christian relations and addressed anti-Semitism in the early Catholic Church.
David P. Efroymson, 91, formerly of Philadelphia, award-winning professor emeritus at La Salle University, former chair of the school’s religion department, lecturer, author, and mentor, died Thursday, Dec. 1, of septic shock at Jefferson Abington Hospital.
Colorful, popular, outspoken, and passionate about the role of religion in modern life, Dr. Efroymson taught classes on such wide-ranging topics as Judaism and anti-Judaism in the New Testament, democracy in the church, Catholicism in today’s world, and the dynamics of religion at La Salle from 1967 until his retirement in 1996.
He was known for challenging traditional church doctrine and assertions made by his students and others, and a La Salle student told The Inquirer in 1986 that “he really analyzed that Gospel today. Now I can read the Bible and realize it’s open to interpretation.”
He earned a doctorate in religion from Temple University in 1976, chaired La Salle’s department of religion from 1982 to 1991, and spoke often at symposia, conferences, and seminars in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts, and elsewhere. He also edited and reviewed books, and wrote dozens of articles and papers.
His father had converted from Judaism to Catholicism, and Dr. Efroymson became interested in Christianity’s fundamental link to Judaism and how the Catholic Church, after failing to properly address antisemitism for years, slowly changed its views on Jews and their relationship with Christians.
He told fellow theologians and teachers at the American Interfaith Institute’s fall symposium in 1993 that “the focus should be on a God who invites you to the supper and not on how he’ll get you if you don’t come.”
He won La Salle’s 1970 Lindback Award for excellence in teaching, helped found the National Liberty Museum, and was active with the University of Pennsylvania’s Philadelphia Seminar on Christian Origins, the Jewish-Catholic Institute at St. Joseph’s University, and other groups. When asked why he participated in so many projects, he said: “I wanted to get in the kitchen and serve the food instead of bellyaching about the menu.”
In 1986, he was featured in The Inquirer’s Sunday magazine as one of Philadelphia’s “Top Ten Profs,” and a La Salle student told of being disappointed by her high school religion class. She said she complained, and one of her teachers said: “Wait till you go to La Salle. Take David Efroymson, and he’ll show you what theology is like for grown-ups.”
His family marveled at his stamina, as he routinely stayed up nearly all night grading papers and leaving notes for students to consider later. In a tribute, a former student said his classroom experiences with Dr. Efroymson were “a really important part of my college experience.”
Born Feb. 11, 1931, in Chicago, David Patrick Efroymson was attracted to Catholic theology early, and he graduated from Archbishop Quigley Preparatory Seminary in Chicago and earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees and a Licentiate in Sacred Theology at the University of St. Mary of the Lake Seminary in Mundelein, Ill., in 1957.
He served as a Catholic priest in Joliet, Ill., from 1957 to 1965, initiating progressive Bible study groups and becoming, to the discomfort of his superiors, involved with political and social issues that ignited his passion and intellect. Among other things, he addressed local race relations as chair of the Joliet Human Relations Commission and supported reforms that resulted from the Second Vatican Council.
“Father David was never afraid of getting into a little trouble for doing what he thought was right,” his family said in a tribute. He eventually left the priesthood and received a papal dispensation that allowed him to marry.
He met Carol Culik at a Bible study group, and they married in 1965. They had daughters Rebecca and Jennifer, and son Daniel, and lived in Northeast Philadelphia, Mount Airy, Wyncote, North Hills, and Warrington.
Dr. Efroymson was a lifelong Chicago sports fan, and he proudly wore his red Bulls cap and jacket around the La Salle campus. He liked to share boyhood stories of riding the street cars, hanging out with buddies in Jackson Park, and ice skating on frozen Lake Michigan.
He sang loudly and proudly at church, and his private library consisted of thousands of books. Asked by his family about a decade ago how he would like to be remembered, he said: “Handsome but in a rugged sort of way. Distinguished but informal. Well-dressed but without ostentation. Graying but youthfully.”
The part about him being well-dressed made his family smile. In a tribute, a colleague said: “It’s so trite to talk about the passing of an era. But not in the case of Dave. He had the demeanor of a prophet.”
In addition to his wife and children, Dr. Efroymson is survived by four grandchildren and other relatives. Two sisters and a brother died earlier.
A celebration of his life is to be at 2 p.m. Feb. 11, 2023, at the De La Salle Chapel in La Salle’s College Hall, 1900 W. Olney Ave., Philadelphia, Pa. 19141.
Donations in his name may be made to La Salle University, 1900 W. Olney Ave., Philadelphia, Pa. 19141.