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Rabbanit Leah Sarna is the Spiritual Leader of Kehillat Sha'arei Orah and a member of the faculties of the International Beit Din and the Drisha Institute for Jewish Education. Trained at Migdal Oz, Yale University and Yeshivat Maharat, she is a sought-after speaker and award-winning educator who has taught Torah in Orthodox synagogues and Jewish communal settings around the world.
Professional History
As Spiritual Leader of an Orthodox shul, I teach Torah, answer many questions in Jewish law, support my membership through lifecycle events and provide a lot of support to my shul's lay leadership. Our shul is eighty families strong and growing all the time. At the same time, I am the Director of Public Education and Media for the International Beit Din, where I teach about the Beit Din's work in using Halachic tools to end the Agunah crisis with compassion. I also still serve on the faculty of Drisha, where I teach classes on a wide range of topics.
From 2020-2024 I worked full-time for the Drisha Institute for Jewish Education. There, I taught a whole range of adult education courses from in-depth Talmud, Mishnah and Halakha to weekly Parsha and even a course on "Feeding Babies." I also directed Drisha's summer teen programs, inspiring cohorts of teenage girls every summer to feel at home in the beit midrash and the world of advanced Torah study.
From 2018-2020, I served as Director of Religious Engagement at Anshe Sholom B'nai Israel Congregation in Chicago, where I created and taught pioneering synagogue educational programs for people of all ages.
While still in training at Yeshivat Maharat, I interned at Harvard Hillel (Cambridge, MA), Ohev Sholom (Washington, DC), the Bedford Hills Correctional Facility (Bedford Hills, NY), New York Presbyterian Hospital (New York, NY) and the Hebrew Institute of White Plains (White Plains, NY).
What I've Been Teaching Recently
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The Complete Beginner's Guide to the Talmud IIII - Hadran (Fall 2024)
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Women's Leadership in Orthodox Judaism - Smith College (Fall 2024)
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"Consider the Years of Ages Past": Living Ancient Jewish Law in Modern Times - Villanova University (Fall 2024)
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Makkot Chapter Two - Drisha Summer High School Program (Summer 2024)
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Judaism is About Love, a book talk - Hadar (Spring 2024)
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I Sleep But My Heart Wakes - Drisha (Spring 2024)
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Seder Leader Seminar - Kehillat Sha'arei Orah (Spring 2024)
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Pregnancy a Tale of Two Readings - Matan Parsha Podcast (Spring 2024)
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The Women Redeemers of the Haggadah - Yeshivat Chovevei Torah (Spring 2024)
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Why Rain Comes From Above, a Book Talk with Dr. Devora Steinmetz - Drisha & Hadar (Spring 2024)
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Mishnah in Depth: Ketubot - Drisha Institute for Jewish Education (Winter 2024)
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Artists' Beit Midrash - Streicker Center (Winter, 2024)
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Moed Kattan Chapter 3 - Private Course in Bala Cynwyd, PA (Fall 2023, Winter 2024, Spring 2024, Fall 2024)
Publications
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Put a Mirror on Your Seder Table (Lehrhaus)
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Before & After October 7: A Symposium (Jewish Review of Books)
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Catastrophic Miracles and Miraculous Catastrophes: The Torah of Pregnancy in Tazria and Toldot (Lehrhaus, Ateret Zvi Prize)
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I Will Not Speak to Dullards (Jewish Review of Books)
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Torah U’Maddah for All? (Lehrhaus)
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Persian Daughters of Israel (Jewish Review of Books)
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“Leviathan: Playmate of God” (929 English)
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“What the Curse of Eve Teaches us About Post-Partum Motherhood” (The Forward)
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“Embrace New Parts of the Haggadah” (Washington Post)
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“My Chicago Synagogue Was Firebombed—But We’re Not Leaving” (The Atlantic)
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“This is What It Means to Visit the Sick” (929 English)
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“We are God’s Unruly Partners Fighting Chaos” (Sh’ma Now The Forward)
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“An Alternative History of American Modern Orthodoxy” (Lehrhaus)
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My Education
They say that all education begins at home, and for me, that is definitely true. My parents are scholars of Jewish studies and inspired my love for Torah from a young age. I also had extraordinary teachers at the Maimonides School who pushed me to see how challenging and exciting Torah study, and especially Talmud study, could be. I wrote my high school senior thesis about whether Orthodox women might ever be rabbis.
From there, I was admitted to Yale University, but before matriculating I took a gap year to study at a seminary in Israel called Migdal Oz. At the time, Migdal Oz was the top institution of Jewish learning for women. My friends and teachers from that year added fuel to my already kindled fire for Torah - they showed me new heights of beauty in Torah study, and my spirit flourished that year in an environment rich with music, prayer and intentionality.
Returning to the United States, I spent four years studying Philosophy and Psychology at Yale University. During my time there, I was intensely involved in the Slifka Center for Jewish Life and also Dwight Hall: The Center for Public Service and Social Justice at Yale. I wrote my senior thesis about confession, exploring the power and potential of gifts of trust and vulnerability. I graduated cum laude with honors in philosophy, as well as multiple public service awards and recognition for my contributions to religious life on campus.
I began studying for ordination at Yeshivat Maharat just months after graduating from Yale, pursuing the dream I had laid out in my high school thesis. Over four years, my studies covered Jewish law relating to the lifecycle, Shabbat, Kashrut and Niddah. I received invaluable pastoral training, and grew my skills in every area of Jewish text study and teaching. Since my semikha in 2018, I have continued studying and teaching Jewish law.