Marc D. Angel (born July 1945) is an Open Orthodox rabbi and author, Rabbi emeritus of Congregation Shearith Israel, the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue in New York City, a position he has held since 1969.

Biography

Born into Seattle's Sephardic Jewish community, his ancestors are Ottoman Sephardim from Turkey and Rhodes, and he grew up in a Ladino-speaking home. He received his B.A., M.S., Ph.D., Th.D. honoris causa, and semikhah (rabbinical ordination) from Yeshiva University; he also has an M.A. in English literature from the City College of New York. He has received the Bernard Revel Award in Religion and Religious Education. He was president of the Rabbinical Council of America (RCA), and a member of the editorial board of its journal, Tradition. In 2007, he established the Institute for Jewish Ideas and Ideals. He directs the Institute and edits its journal, Conversations, which appears three times per year and is a voice of Open Orthodoxy. In 2007, he and Rabbi Avi Weiss co-founded the International Rabbinic Fellowship, the Open Orthodox rabbinic group, "to counter what they see as a rightward shift in the Orthodox community" and reduce centralization of rabbinate authority, though they remained RCA members. A prolific author, he has written several controversial books and articles that have taken issue with and challenged traditional Orthodox views and the Rabbinate.

Works

Awards

Family

In a 2009 interview he stated that he and his wife Gilda Angel "have three children and six grandchildren."

Institute for Jewish Ideas and Ideals

In October 2007, Angel founded the Institute for Jewish Ideas and Ideals is a New York-based non-profit organization committed to advancing a culturally diverse and intellectually rational Jewish Orthodoxy. The Institute disseminates its particular vision through the publication of articles, and books as well as the hosting and promotion of lectures. Hayyim Angel, Angels's son, is National Scholar of the institute.