Rabbanit Leah Sarna

Rabbanit Leah Sarna

Rabbanit Sarna is an award-winning Jewish educator who is passionate about building intergenerational community around Torah and Mitzvot.  She also currently serves as a member of the faculty at the Drisha Institute for Jewish Education and as the Director of Public Education for the International Beit Din

Before moving to Lower Merion, Rabbanit Sarna worked as Director of Religious Engagement at Anshe Sholom B’nai Israel Congregation in Chicago, the center of Orthodox life in a thriving urban Jewish community. In her first year in the position, she was recognized by the Jewish United Fund as one of Chicago’s “36 Under 36” honorees.

A native of Newton, Massachusetts, Rabbanit Sarna first fell in love with Torah learning as a student at the Maimonides School. She holds a cum laude degree with honors in Philosophy & Psychology from Yale University and was ordained at Yeshivat Maharat in 2018. She has also trained in pastoral care at Columbia Presbyterian and in Talmud and halakha at the Beit Midrash for Women at Migdal Oz, Drisha and the Center for Modern Torah Leadership. 

An awardee of the Covenant Foundation’s Pomegranate Prize in Jewish Education, Hadar’s Ateret Zvi Prize in Hiddushei Torah, and the Wexner Graduate Fellowship, Rabbanit Sarna’s published works have appeared in venues including The Atlantic, the Washington Post, and the Jewish Review of Books. With the support of the Sefaria Word-By-Word Fellowship, she is currently working on a book of Torah and halakhic guidance for pregnancy, childbirth and the beginning of life.

Rabbanit Sarna lives in Bala Cynwyd with her husband, Dr. Ethan Schwartz, a professor of Hebrew Bible at Villanova University, and their two sons.

Events & Updates

Rabbanit Tanya Farber

Rabbanit Tanya Farber is a Torah teacher with many years of experience teaching students of all ages, from kids to adults! Reb Tanya also worked for a decade with adults

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