Rabbi David Rosen is one of the Jewish world’s most prominent voices at the intersection of Jewish values and plant-based living. A member of the Jewish Vegan Life Executive and Spiritual Councils, Rabbi Rosen became vegetarian after witnessing the conditions inside a kosher slaughterhouse while serving as senior rabbi of South Africa’s largest Orthodox congregation. That experience, rooted in the Jewish principle of tza’ar ba’alei chayyim, the prohibition on cruelty to animals, led him to a fully vegan diet after learning about the practices of the dairy and egg industries.

Born in Newbury, England in 1951, Rabbi Rosen served as Chief Rabbi of Ireland from 1979 to 1985. He also served as International Director of Interreligious Affairs for the American Jewish Committee (AJC), based in Jerusalem.

His interfaith leadership spans decades and includes service as International President of Religions for Peace, Honorary President of the International Council of Christians and Jews, and membership on the Chief Rabbinate of Israel’s Commission for Interreligious Dialogue. He was a member of the bilateral commission that negotiated the Fundamental Agreement between the State of Israel and the Holy See in 1994.

Rabbi Rosen has received numerous honors for his contributions to interfaith reconciliation, including a Knighthood in the Order of St. Gregory the Great from Pope Benedict XVI (2005), a CBE from Queen Elizabeth II (2010), and the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Hubert Walter Award for Reconciliation and Interfaith Cooperation (2016).