Rabbi David Rosen, Rabbi Emeritus
Rabbi David Rosen was elected to the position of Senior Rabbi of Congregation Beth Yeshurun in Houston in 1996. A native of Houston, Rabbi Rosen grew up at Beth Yeshurun, attended the synagogue’s Hebrew School and became a Bar Mitzvah in 1964 (at a service officiated by the late Rabbi William Malev). Prior to returning to Houston, Rabbi Rosen served 4 years at Suburban Park Jewish Center in East Meadow, L.I., New York, and 12 years at Temple Torat Yisrael in Providence, Rhode Island.
Rabbi Rosen graduated the University of Texas at Austin in 1973 with a degree in Communications. Ordained at the Hebrew Union College–Jewish Institute of Religion in 1980, Rabbi Rosen continued his rabbinical studies at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America in New York and Jerusalem, and at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. In 2007, he was awarded the degree of Doctor of Divinity, honoris causa, by the Jewish Theological Seminary. He is a member of the Rabbinical Assembly (the international association of Conservative Rabbis) and has served on its Administrative Committee and Executive Council. He served on committees which edited Etz Hayim: Humash and Commentary (published in 2001) and Siddur Lev Shalem (2016). In 2005, Rabbi Rosen chaired the Rabbinical Assembly International Convention when it convened in Houston. He is a Past President of the Houston Rabbinical Association and the Rhode Island Board of Rabbis. He has served on the Executive Committee of the Jewish Federation of Greater Houston and its Board of Trustees. He was the recipient of the Mae and Edmund Hecht Rabbinic Award of the Jewish Federation of Greater Houston in 1999.
Rabbi Rosen has served on the Board of the American Jewish Committee (Houston Chapter). He has co-chaired the Anti-Defamation League's Coalition for Mutual Respect, which coordinates pulpit and teaching exchanges among Houston’s rabbis, priests, ministers, and imams. Rabbi Rosen received the Julie and Ben Rogers Ecumenism Award from the Anti-Defamation League in 2004. In September 2005, President George W. Bush invited Rabbi Rosen to represent the Jewish community at the National Day of Prayer which took place at the Washington National Cathedral in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. In March 2006, Rabbi Rosen and his family were honored by the American Associates of Ben-Gurion University with the creation of the "Rosen Family Career Development Chair in Judaic Studies at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev." Rabbi Rosen was also honored by American Red Magen David for Israel in 2003 for his support of Israel during the Intifada, and by Congregation Moreshet Yisrael in Jerusalem in 2007. In 2011, he received the King David Award from Israel Bonds in honor of his “leadership and generosity to the People and Land of Israel.”
Rabbi Rosen was a contributor to Three Times Chai: 54 Rabbis Tell Their Favorite Stories, edited by Laney Katz Becker (Behrman House, 2007); The Modern Men’s Torah Commentary: New Insights from Jewish Men on the 54 Weekly Torah Portions, edited by Rabbi Jeffrey Salkin (Jewish Lights, 2009); and Text Messages: A Torah Commentary for Teens, edited by Rabbi Jeffrey Salkin (Jewish Lights, 2012). Rabbi Rosen is married and the father of two children.
