First Asian American rabbi draws on life between cultures to redefine belonging

Born in South Korea and raised in Washington state, Angela Buchdahl rose to lead a major New York synagogue while challenging bias and expanding ideas of Jewish identity.

Image via Central Synagogue / YouTube

Angela Buchdahl, senior rabbi of Central Synagogue in New York City, became the first Asian American to be ordained as both a cantor (1999) and a rabbi (2001) in the U.S. Born in Seoul in 1972 to a Korean Buddhist mother and a Jewish American father, she moved to Tacoma, Washington, at age 5 and grew up in a predomin…