What’s Her Line?

The old TV show “What’s My Line?” featured people whose occupation you wouldn’t likely guess just by looking at them. Angela Buchdahl would have made a great guest on that show.

Angela Buchdahl is the head rabbi at Central Synagogue, a 180-year-old Reform temple in Midtown Manhattan.

Born in Korea, the future rabbi was the daughter of an American Jewish father and a Korean Buddhist mother. The family emigrated from Korea when she was a young child. She grew up in Tacoma, Washington, where she was raised Jewish.

In 1999, two years before she became a rabbi, Angela Buchdahl was invested as a cantor. She was the first Asian American with each of these titles (cantor and rabbi).

She first came to Central Synagogue in 2006, as a cantor. In 2014, she became senior rabbi at the same synagogue. She is the first woman to lead this large congregation.