Elie Abadie () is Senior Rabbi in the Association of Gulf Jewish Communities and Senior Rabbi in Residence of the Jewish Council of the Emirates (JCE). He is the former Director of the Jacob E. Safra Institute of Sephardic Studies at

Yeshiva University Yeshiva University is a Private university, private Modern Orthodox Judaism, Orthodox Jewish university with four campuses in New York City.

, with an area of interest on the topics of

Sephardic Judaism Sephardic law and customs are the law and customs of Judaism which are practiced by Sephardim or Sephardic Jews ( "Jews of Spain"); the descendants of the historic Jewish community of the Iberian Peninsula, what is now Spain and Portugal. Many ...

, history, philosophy, and comparative traditional law. He is a member of the board of the

American Sephardi Federation The American Sephardi Federation, a founding member of the Center for Jewish History, is a non-profit Jewish organization that strengthens and organizes the religious and cultural activities of Sephardic Jews, preserves Sephardic heritage, tradit ...

and the World Sephardic Educational Center, and co-president of

Justice for Jews from Arab Countries Justice for Jews from Arab Countries (JJAC) is a political advocacy organization founded in New York in 2002, which was formed by the Conference of Presidents, the World Jewish Congress, the American Sephardi Federation, and the World Organizati ...

. He is a former member of the Board and an Officer of the

Rabbinical Council of America The Rabbinical Council of America (RCA) is one of the world's largest organizations of Orthodox Judaism, Orthodox rabbis; it is affiliated with The Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, more commonly known as the Orthodox Union (OU). ...

(RCA), the Treasurer/Vice-president of the

New York Board of Rabbis The New York Board of Rabbis is an organization of Orthodox, Reform, Conservative and Reconstructionist rabbis in New York State and the surrounding portions of Connecticut and New Jersey. The roots of the New York Board of Rabbis date to 1881 wi ...

, and co-chair of the Sadat Congressional Gold Medal Committee.

Early life and education

Family Origins

Abadie's parents were forced to flee

Aleppo, Syria Aleppo is a city in Syria, which serves as the capital of the Aleppo Governorate, the most populous governorate of Syria. With an estimated population of 2,098,000 residents it is Syria's largest city by urban area, and was the largest by po ...

, where his family had lived for millennia, under government pressure. Abadie explained his parents' flight from Syria:

“My parents lived right next to the
synagogue A synagogue, also called a shul or a temple, is a place of worship for Jews and Samaritans. It is a place for prayer (the main sanctuary and sometimes smaller chapels) where Jews attend religious services or special ceremonies such as wed ...
. They saw people enter the synagogue, pillage it, torched it, took out the
Torah scrolls A Sephardic Torah scroll rolled to the first paragraph of the Shema An Ashkenazi Torah scroll rolled to the Decalogue file:Keneseth Eliyahoo Synagogue, Interior, Tora Cases.jpg">Torah cases at Knesset Eliyahoo Synagogue, Mumbai, India ...
and holy books and burnt them. My parents escaped from their home through the backdoor as people tried to get into my parents’ house. They left and never returned.”

Abadie was born in

Beirut Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...

, Lebanon in 1960. The Abadie family moved to

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

in 1971 after the

Palestinian Liberation Organization The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO; ) is a Palestinian nationalist coalition that is internationally recognized as the official representative of the Palestinian people in both the occupied Palestinian territories and the diaspora. ...

relocated its headquarters from

Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...

to Lebanon. They lived in Lebanon with no citizenship, as registered refugees, with identity documents reading "stateless." Abadie's father, had his picture posted on walls around Beirut claiming he was a Zionist leader, prompting his family's emigration. After moving to the United States in 1979 to attend Yeshiva University, he earned his B.A. in

Health Sciences The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to health sciences: Health sciences – those sciences that focus on health, or health care, as core parts of their subject matter. Health sciences relate to multiple a ...

in 1983, B.S.C. in 1984 in Bible Studies, Hebrew Teacher's diploma in 1985, and a master's degree in

Jewish Philosophy Jewish philosophy () includes all philosophy carried out by Jews or in relation to the religion of Judaism. Until the modern ''Haskalah'' (Jewish Enlightenment) and Jewish emancipation, Jewish philosophy was preoccupied with attempts to reconc ...

in 1986 from Bernard Revel Graduate School of Yeshiva University. Abadie received his ordination in 1986 from

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 ...

. He attended

SUNY Downstate Medical Center SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University is a public medical school and hospital in Brooklyn, New York. It is the southernmost member of the State University of New York (SUNY) system and the only academic medical center for health education, ...

, where he graduated in 1990 with an M.D. degree. He did his residency in

Internal Medicine Internal medicine, also known as general medicine in Commonwealth nations, is a medical specialty for medical doctors focused on the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of diseases in adults. Its namesake stems from "treatment of diseases of ...

, and later his fellowship in gastroenterology at

Maimonides Medical Center Maimonides Medical Center is a non-profit, non-sectarian hospital located in Borough Park, in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, in the U.S. state of New York. Maimonides is both a treatment facility and academic medical center with 711 ...

where he finished in 1995.

Tenure as rabbi

Abadie became a rabbi at Congregation Beit Edmond in 2001. He was the founding rabbi of Shaare Mizrah-Manhattan East Synagogue, the Head of School of the Sephardic Academy of Manhattan, and the Spiritual Leader of the Moise Safra Community Center in Manhattan. From 2003 to 2017 he was the founding Rabbi and Spiritual Leader of the Edmond J. Safra Synagogue in New York City (now Congregation Beit Edmond), one of the largest Sephardic synagogues in New York City. He is currently the President of JJAC (

) and a member of the governing council of the

World Zionist Organization The World Zionist Organization (; ''HaHistadrut HaTzionit Ha'Olamit''), or WZO, is a non-governmental organization that promotes Zionism. It was founded as the Zionist Organization (ZO; 1897–1960) at the initiative of Theodor Herzl at the F ...

(WZO). He is the founder of the Sephardic Academy of Manhattan and served as the Director of the Jacob E. Safra Institute of Sephardic Studies, at

Yeshiva University Yeshiva University is a Private university, private Modern Orthodox Judaism, Orthodox Jewish university with four campuses in New York City.

and college professor of Sephardic Judaism, history, philosophy, and comparative traditional law.

Senior Rabbi in the United Arab Emirates

In November 2020, after the signing of the

Abraham Accords The Abraham Accords are bilateral agreements on Arab–Israeli normalization signed between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and between Israel and Bahrain on September 15, 2020. Mediated by the United States, the announcement of August ...

, which normalized relations between the

UAE The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a federal elective monarchy made up of seven emirates, with Abu Dhabi serving as i ...

and

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

, Abadie moved to

Dubai Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...

to become the country's Senior Rabbi. In 2021, Abadie issued an official condemnation of the

Houthis The Houthis, officially known as Ansar Allah, is a Zaydism, Zaydi Shia Islamism, Shia Islamist political and military organization that emerged from Yemen in the 1990s. It is predominantly made up of Zaydi Shias, with their namesake leadersh ...

for imprisoning a Yemenite Jew, Levi Salem Marhabi, for helping smuggle a group of

Jews Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

into

; dubbing it as a

crime against humanity Crimes against humanity are certain serious crimes committed as part of a large-scale attack against civilians. Unlike war crimes, crimes against humanity can be committed during both peace and war and against a state's own nationals as well as ...

Personal life

Abadie's native language is

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

and is fluent in six languages. He is also a part-time gastroenterologist. Abadie has received the Orden Del Merito Civil, the highest civil decoration in

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. He has been married to Elise Eichler for over 36 years.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Abadie, Elie 1960 births 21st-century American rabbis American people of Lebanese-Jewish descent American people of Syrian-Jewish descent Lebanese people of Syrian descent Lebanese people of Syrian-Jewish descent Syrian Jews Living people Gastroenterologists Order of Civil Merit members Religious leaders from Beirut 20th-century American Sephardic Jews 21st-century American Sephardic Jews Yeshiva University alumni