Friday, May 17, 2024

Celebrating Asian American, Native Hawai'ian, Pacific Islander Heritage Month: Angela Buchdahl, first Asian American rabbi



Angela Buchdahl, born July 8, 1972 in Seoul, South Korea, is the first Asian American to be ordained as rabbi in the US.  Her mother was a Korean Buddhist and her father was Jewish.  Her family moved to the US when she was 5 and raised Jewish in Tacoma, Washington.

She graduated from Yale University with a BS in Religious Studies in 1994 and started her rabbinic studies at Hebrew Union College.  She was ordained as a rabbi in 2001 by the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion becoming the first Asian American rabbi.  In 2013, Buchdahl was named Senior Rabbi of the Central Synagogue. 

In December 2014, she delivered led prayers at the White House Hanukkah celebration, welcomed by President Barack Obama.

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