Rabbi Joshua M. Davidson

JOSHUA M. DAVIDSON – Peter and Mary Kalikow Senior Rabbinic Chair

Rabbi Joshua M. Davidson began his tenure as Temple Emanu-El’s senior rabbi in 2013. From 2002 through 2013 he served as senior rabbi of Temple Beth El of Northern Westchester in Chappaqua, New York, and from 1997 to 2002 as assistant and associate rabbi of Central Synagogue in New York City, advising that synagogue’s award-winning Social Action Committee.

A graduate of Princeton University, and ordained by the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion from which he also received Master’s and honorary Doctor of Divinity degrees, Rabbi Davidson’s work has included anti-death penalty advocacy, LGBTQ+ inclusion, and interfaith dialogue. In 2009, he was honored for his interfaith efforts by the Westchester Jewish Council and the American Jewish Committee, on whose New York Board he sits.  He has been profiled in both Leaders Magazine and Our Town.

Currently Rabbi Davidson is a member of the Hebrew Union College Board of Governors, HUC’s President’s Rabbinic Council, the Clergy Advisory Board of Interfaith Impact of New York State, and the Muslim-Jewish Advisory Council. He is a past chair of A Partnership of Faith in New York City, and past president of both the Westchester Board of Rabbis and the Chappaqua Interfaith Council. From 2001 to 2006, he served as chair of the Central Conference of American Rabbis’ Committee on Justice, Peace and Religious Liberties and vice-chair of the Commission on Social Action of Reform Judaism. He also chaired the Commission’s task force on Israel and world affairs. He is a past board member of UJA-Federation of New York and Rabbis for Human Rights-North America.

Rabbi Davidson was honored with a Corkin Family Fellowship at the Herbert D. Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies at the University of Pennsylvania and Clal-The National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership. His articles have been published by The Jewish Week, The Forward, Commentary Magazine, The New York Times, The New York Daily News, The New York Post, CNN, The Huffington Post, Haaretz, The Jerusalem Post, and The Times of Israel; and he is a contributing writer in Rabbi Lawrence Hoffman’s Prayers of Awe series.


Articles by Rabbi Davidson

Progressivism’s Breakdown Over Israel and Jews. NY Daily News, February 13, 2024 


On a Visit to Israel, I Learned to Curb My Certainty and Listen to Our Complicated People. The Jewish Telegraphic Agency, February 7, 2024 


Israel Wrestles But Does Right. NY Daily News, December 29, 2023


When the Nearest Jews Will Do. NY Daily News, November 16, 2023


Help! The Times of Israel, October 31, 2023 


It’s Time to Show Up. The Times of Israel, October 24, 2023 


To Defend One’s Home is Righteous. The Times of Israel, October 13, 2023


Shver Tsu Zayn a Yid, It’s Hard to be a Jew. The Times of Israel, September 22, 2023


Will Israel Care if Yet More American Jews Walk Away? Haaretz, March 16, 2023


Liberal and Zionism. Jerusalem Post, December 13, 2022


Israel is More Than Its Government. The New York Times, November 8, 2022


Securing the Fortress of Hope. The Times of Israel, January 27, 2022


The Deep Meaning of This Year’s Hanukkah. CNN, November 28, 2021


The third face of antisemitism. The Times of Israel, May 26, 2021


It’s Time to Reopen. Synagogues Should Lead the Way. The New York Jewish Week, May 20, 20215/20/2021


Two Truths and a Lie. The Times of Israel, May 17, 2021


More than a coincidence. The Times of Israel, January 18, 2021


Redeeming America and 2020. The Times of Israel, December 25, 2020


Extending our Arms  The Times of Israel, December 10, 2020


David and Donald: The Idle Kings. The Times of Israel, November 16, 2020


What the Legacy of Yitzhak Rabin Can Teach America the Day After the Election. The Times of Israel, November 5, 2020


God Is in the Voting Booth. Forward, October 27, 2020


Finding meaning in Rosh Hashanah amid a pandemic. CNN, September 17, 2020

Be Strong and We Will Strengthen Each Other

Rabbi Davidson’s Shabbat sermon from Friday, December 17, 2021