Rabbi Frank Dabba Smith

Frank Dabba Smith was born in 1955 in California and earned his first degree in Linguistic Anthropology at the University of California at Berkeley. After working as a freelance photographer and teacher, he trained to be a Liberal Rabbi at Leo Baeck College in London and has served since 1997 at Mosaic Liberal Synagogue (formerly known as Harrow and Wembley Progressive Synagogue). He holds MA degrees in Hebrew and Jewish studies as well as in Photographic Studies.
 
Currently, he is completing final minor revisions on his PhD dissertation at University College London (UCL) concerning the behaviour of the renowned camera manufacturer Ernst Leitz of Wetzlar during the Holocaust. He teaches courses on dying, death and bereavement as well as on the Holocaust to rabbinic students at Leo Baeck College.
 
Frank Dabba Smith’s publications include My Secret Camera (Harcourt and Frances Lincoln, 2000) and Elsie’s War (Frances Lincoln, 2003). Recent solo photographic exhibitions include Leica Gallery (New York City, 2012), SAK-Art Museum (Svendborg, Denmark, 2012) and co-exhibiting with sculptor Jane McAdam Freud at the Priory Psychiatric Hospital (Roehampton, London, 2014).
 
He serves on the International Advisory Committee of EcoPeace-Middle East, as Vice-Chair of the Brent Multi-faith Forum, on the Independent Advisory Group of the Metropolitan Police in Wembley and as a trustee to The Berakah Project.
 
Frank Dabba Smith has been married to Cathy since 1986 and they have three children: Miriam (1991), Lewis (1995) and Sarah (1997).