Rabbi Angela Buchdahl

Senior Rabbi, Central Synagogue in New York City

Angela Warnick Buchdahl serves as the senior rabbi of Central Synagogue in New York City, a flagship Reform synagogue, dubbed the first ‘mega-shul’ by the Wall Street Journal.  Buchdahl is the first woman to lead Central in its 185-year history. Born in Seoul, Korea, Buchdahl graduated from Yale University and went on to become the first Asian American ordained as a cantor and first ordained as rabbi in North America. Rabbi Buchdahl has been nationally recognized for her innovations in leading worship, which draw large crowds in the congregation’s historic Sanctuary and a million live streamers in more than 100 countries. Rabbi Buchdahl was invited by President Barack Obama in 2014 and President Joe Biden in 2023 to share blessings and light the menorah for the White House Hanukkah Party, the first rabbi invited by two administrations. Rabbi Buchdahl serves on the boards of American Jewish Committee, The Asia Society, Yale University Presidents Council, and New York Board of Rabbis.  She has been featured on the Today Show, NPR, PBS and Newsweek’s “America’s 50 Most Influential Rabbis.” Rabbi Buchdahl’s memoir, Heart of a Stranger is set to be published by Penguin/Random House in October 2025.  Rabbi Buchdahl and her husband Jacob have three children.