Rabbi Elie Abadie, M.D.
Chief Rabbi of the UAE, President of Jews for Justice of Arab Countries, Author, Public Speaker
Rabbi Dr. Elie Abadie was born in Beirut Lebanon, and grew up in Mexico City, coming to the United States to attend Yeshiva University. He earned his B.A. in Health Sciences in 1983, B.Sc. in 1984 in Bible Studies, Hebrew Teacher’s diploma in 1985, and a Master’s degree in Philosophy in 1986 from Bernard Revel Graduate School of Yeshiva University. He then received his Rabbinic ordination in 1986 from Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary, attended SUNY Downstate Medical Center and graduated in 1990 with an M.D. degree. He did his residency in Internal Medicine, and later his fellowship in Gastroenterology at Maimonides Medical Center finishing in 1995.
Rabbi Abadie was the founding Rabbi and Spiritual Leader Emeritus of the Edmond J. Safra Synagogue in New York City. He is the founder of the Sephardic Academy of Manhattan and the Rabbinic Advisor of the Moise Safra Community Center in Manhattan. He was also a member of the Board and an Officer of the Rabbinical Council of America (RCA). As a member of the board of the American Sephardi Federation and the World Sephardic Educational Center, he lectures on Sephardic Judaism, history, and comparative traditional law. Presently, he is the Chief Rabbi of the UAE, appointed on the heels of the signing of the Abrahamic Accords. He appears often and is interviewed on many English and Spanish television and radio programs, including CNN, Fox News ABC, Spanish Radio, CCTV and Television programs, America Teve Canal 41, and Israeli Media, Galei Zahal, Arutz 10 and 7.
He was featured in the Jewish Voice Weekly, Image Magazine, the Jewish Week, Hamevasser, Israel Hayom, Hamodia, LaMishpaha Magazine and many others. He received the Jerusalem Medal, Orden Del Merito Civil, the highest civil decoration by His Majesty King Juan Carlos I of Spain, and many others. The rabbi speaks six languages, and is often at the negotiating table in many Arab and Spanish countries on missions of diplomacy.
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