David Cardoza Levy was the third child from his father, Lyon Levy’s, second marriage, to Sarah Cardozo. One of fifteen—with the children from both of his father’s marriages—Levy grew up in one of Charleston’s leading Jewish families. In 1826, he married Anna Maria Moses, and they had eight children, including Cecilia Eliza and Fanny Emma.

In 1825, Levy became one of the founders of the Reformed Society of Israelites in Charleston, which constituted the beginnings of Reform Judaism in the United States. The previous year, Levy joined Abraham Moise and other dissatisfied congregants in petitioning Bet Elohim, demanding a set of religious and liturgical changes, chiefly the introduction of English. When adjunta rejected these demands—which had also included a call for a shorter service—Levy and his fellow dissenters established the Reformed Society. Although the organization probably remained in existence for little more than a decade, it does mark the earliest iteration of Reform Judaism in America.