Rabbi Yehuda Sarna is the Chief Rabbi of the

Jewish Council of the Emirates The Jewish Council of the Emirates (JCE) is the representative body of Part of the Jewish community in Dubai. Although the Jewish community in the UAE is older, the JCE was formalized with its constitution in 2018. The JCE has more than 100 activ ...

. He is also the Executive Director of the Bronfman Center for Jewish Student Life at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

(NYU), the University Chaplain and an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Public Administration at the Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service.

Biography

Rabbi Yehuda Sarna was born in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. He attended

Yeshivat Har Etzion Yeshivat Har Etzion (YHE; ), commonly known in English as "Gush" and in Hebrew as "Yeshivat HaGush", is a hesder yeshiva located in Alon Shvut, an Israeli settlement in Gush Etzion. It is considered one of the leading institutions of advanced Tora ...

from 1995 to 1997 before earning his B.A. in English Literature and Judaic Studies from Yeshiva College. Rabbi Sarna is a 2003 graduate of the

Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary (RIETS ) is the rabbinical seminary of Yeshiva University (YU). It is located along Amsterdam Avenue in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. Named after Yitzchak Elchanan S ...

. In 2002, he began working at

's Bronfman Center for Jewish Student Life, a Hillel affiliate. Since then, Rabbi Sarna has founded the Jewish Learning Fellowship, a 10-week experiential, conversational seminar for students looking to deepen their understanding of Judaism on their own terms. He has been instrumental in building a strong and diverse Jewish presence at NYU. Rabbi Sarna, along with Imam Khalid Latif, co-founded the 'Of Many' Institute for Multifaith Leadership at NYU. They teach a course together and lead service trips to cultivate cooperation and dialogue among students from different faiths.

Chief Rabbi of the Jewish Council of the Emirates

In 2019, Rabbi Sarna was appointed

Chief Rabbi Chief Rabbi ( he, רב ראשי ''Rav Rashi'') is a title given in several countries to the recognized religious leader of that country's Jewish community, or to a rabbinic leader appointed by the local secular authorities. Since 1911, through a ...

of the Jewish Council of the Emirates (JCE). Rabbi Sarna lives in New York and used to visit the United Arab Emirates 4 times a year until the onset of the Covid pandemic.

Press

Op-Eds

Rabbi Yehuda Sarna, "Chief Rabbi of UAE: Reflections on a Historic Accord", ''Jewish Exponent'', Sept. 17, 2020. Rabbi Yehuda Sarna, "How I Became Chief Rabbi of the UAE and Why That Matters", ''Times of Israel'', Aug. 21, 2020.

Notable Mentions

Dan Lavie, "A year on, Abraham Accords depict new chapter in region's history", ''Israel Hayom,'' Oct. 4, 2021. Binsal Abdulkader, "'Muslim woman who stood guard Jewish prayer at AUH airport embodies UAE's tolerance:' Chief Rabbi", ''Emirates News Agency'', Sept. 16, 2021. "'Amen-Amen-Amen': New documentary tells the story of the UAE's first Jewish community", ''The National'', Dec. 15, 2020. Aviva Engel, "UAE's Chief Rabbi Yehuda Sarna: The pride of Montreal's Jewish Community", ''The Suburban'', Sept.17, 2020. David Brooks, "From One Chief Rabbi to Another", ''Jewish Insider'', June 27, 2019. Ron Kampeas, "NYU Chaplain to Be First Chief Rabbi in the United Arab Emirates", ''Haaretz'', May 15, 2019.

Awards and recognition

Rabbi Sarna has received numerous awards for his work. In 2009, he was an honoree at the Jewish Learning Initiative on Campus Awards dinner. Additionally in 2009, he was listed as one of the "36-under-36" by

The Jewish Week ''The Jewish Week'' is a weekly independent community newspaper targeted towards the Jewish community of the metropolitan New York City area. ''The Jewish Week'' covers news relating to the Jewish community in NYC. In March 2016, ''The Jewish We ...

. In 2012, Rabbi Sarna received an award from Temple of Understanding with NYU's Imam Khalid Latif and Chelsea Clinton for their work in, "advancing a new model of integrating interfaith and cross cultural education into campus life." In 2013, he was honored by Yeshivat Har Etzion as "Alumnus of the Year."

Personal life

Rabbi Sarna is married to psychologist Dr. Michelle Waldman Sarna. They have 6 children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sarna, Yehuda American Modern Orthodox rabbis New York University people Yeshiva University alumni Yeshivat Har Etzion New York University faculty Jewish chaplains Year of birth missing (living people) Emirati rabbis Chief rabbis Living people 21st-century American Jews