David Lieber

[3] David Leo Lieber was born in Poland on February 20, 1925 in the town Stryj (the city is now part of Ukraine).

[4][5] The family spent some time on a relative's farm before ultimately settling in the Lower East Side of Manhattan, where David grew up.

[citation needed] At age 19, he graduated from the City College of New York while simultaneously receiving a bachelor's degree in Hebrew literature from the Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS).

[citation needed] David met the love of his life and wife of 63 years, Esther Kobre, through her brother, with whom he was good friends, and also through Hashomer Hadati (now Bnei Akiva).

After stepping down from the post of president, Lieber continued to teach as the Flora and Arnold Skovron Distinguished Service Professor of Biblical Literature and Thought at the UJ, he served as president of the Rabbinical Assembly from 1996 to 1998, and he also served as senior editor for the Etz Hayim Humash, the first official Torah and commentary of the Conservative Movement.

[4][5][8] Lieber first conceived of the idea of writing the Etz Hayim Humash in 1969,[8] in order to create a "new Torah commentary to reflect the age in which it is made,"[5] but began working on the project eighteen years later, in 1987.