Howard Apfel

Howard Apfel is an American Rabbi and Cardiologist practicing medicine at Columbia University Medical Center.

Rabbi Dr. Apfel is a board certified pediatric cardiologist at Columbia University Medical Center and a maggid shiur in Yeshivat Shaalvim in Nof Ayalon, Israel. Rabbi Dr. Apfel has taught bioethics courses at the Yeshiva University Gruss Kollel in Jerusalem, at Touro College Landers College for Men and has given a shiur on Hilchot Shabbat as it relates to physicians at the Yeshiva University Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Dr. Apfel has published extensively on contemporary halacha related articles, focusing on modern issues in Jewish medical ethics.

Rabbi Dr. Apfel received his BA degree from Columbia University in 1985, and his medical degree Summa Cum Laude from the State University of New York, Downstate in 1989. Dr. Apfel completed his residency at Schneider Children’s Hospital. He also completed a fellowship in pediatric cardiology at the Babies and Children’s Hospital of Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center, specializing in congenital heart disease. He received Rabbinic Ordination from the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary in 2003.

Dr. Apfel was cited in New Jersey's Top Doctor edition in 2009, 2012, 2014, 2015, and 2016 as one of the top Pediatric Cardiologists in New Jersey. He was also ranked as the 2nd best Cardiologist in New Jersey by the Jewish Standard.

Rabbi Dr. Apfel has received many awards during his years of practicing medicine. The following is a chronological list of his awards:

• 1986, McGraw-Hill Award for Outstanding Academic Achievement
• 1987, Lange Award for Outstanding Academic Achievement
• 1987, Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society
• 1988, New York Academy of Medicine Award for Significant Achievement in the Field of Cardiovascular Medicine and Overall Academic Excellence
• 1988, Lange Award for Outstanding Academic Achievement
• 1989, Sandoz Award for Academic Excellence
• 1990, Samuel Karelitz Intern of the Year Award for Clinical Acumen, Diligence and Humanity
• 1992, Stanley Levin Resident Teaching Award for Clinical Expertise and Teaching Commitment
• 1994, Hatch Young Investigators Award for Cardiovascular
• Top Pediatric Cardiologist in New Jersey (New Jersey Record Top Doctors Edition)

Rabbi Dr. Apfel has been published in a number of periodicals. He has written for theJournal of Halacha and Contemporary Society and Tradition: The Journal of Orthodox Jewish Thought. He was also a Senior mentor and writer for the Albert Einstein College of Medicine Synagogue Compendium Of Torah and Medicine. In addition, has written over 20 articles for various peer reviewed medical journals.

• Fetal intervention: Halacha's response to a new bioethical dilemma.
• Halachic and Medical perspectives of Banking Umbilical Cord Stem Cells.
• Life Saving Duties on Shabbat: Switching Call with a Non-Observant Jew.
• Reading Options on Shabbat.
• Verapo Yerapeh: Diverse Approaches to the License to Heal.
• Hashkafic Divergence in Contemporary Orthodoxy: Nekudat ha-Mahloket.
• Pulmonary position cryopreserved homografts: durability in pediatric Ross and non-Ross patients.
• Comparison of three-dimensional echocardiographic assessment of volume, mass, and function in children with functionally single left ventricles with two-dimensional echocardiography and magnetic resonance imaging.
• Noncardiac chest pain and psychopathology in children and adolescents.
• Late Left Ventricular Function After Surgery for Children With Chronic Symptomatic Mitral Regurgitation.