Rabbi Yonah Hain

Yonah Hain  is our Campus Rabbi and serves as a member of the Columbia University Office of Religious Life. He helps shape Jewish life on campus through relationships with students, university faculty and administration, and by overseeing our educational, religious and interfaith initiatives.

Rabbi Hain has been faculty for the Shalom Hartman Institute and at YCT Rabbinical School. He has been a recurring contributor to the TEXTing podcast, and he has developed educational series for both the Drisha Institute and Hadar. In spring 2024, he finished his coursework towards a doctorate in Talmud and Rabbinics, and is currently a doctoral research fellow at Ben-Gurion University in Israel.  

Yonah started at Columbia/Barnard Hillel in 2007, and coupled with his previous work at NYU’s Bronfman Center, he has been a New York City campus rabbi for nearly two deacdes.

“I am eager to meet and to connect with each student; no conversation topic is too mundane or too abstract- from Jewish text and tradition to daily university life. Just book a time that works for you here and stop by. Lastly, I look forward to introducing you to my family – my better half, Elana, and our sons, Azzan and Navon!”