Interview with Central Synagogue's Rabbi Angela Buchdahl

We were on a ranch in New Mexico, about to enjoy a shabbat dinner with some faith leaders from around the country. That’s when my friend Rabbi Kleinbaum shared the news. There had been an attack at Central Synagogue in New York City.

She didn’t have know many details then. We couldn’t find many online. And even though several us were from New York City and knew Central Synagogue well, there wasn’t much we could do from thousands of miles away. We prayed together, we sang together, and then we broke bread together.

I felt especially touched because I recently spent quite a bit of time at Central Synagogue with their leader, Senior Rabbi Angela Buchdahl. We had interviewed her for our Undivided episode on Jewish Americans. Angela and I have been long time friends, and we had a longer conversation than was possible to include in the episode. Today, we’re releasing that conversation here. Please feel free to watch if you’d like to get a sense of who she is, what she’s about, and what makes that synagogue and congregation so special.

There are a couple of other amazing and exciting updates to share with you. The first is that we’ve had multiple screenings of Undivided so far, and we have many more lined up for this upcoming Fall. We screened the LDS episode at Interfaith America’s summit last weekend and had the most lovely conversation with attendees. A handful of LDS members in the audience talked about how special it was to have their story told in a way that was respectful yet also probing. I appreciated that immensely.

Their comments reminded me of this stunning review we received in an LDS magazine called Meridian. I’m really touched that the author, my friend John Dye, captured the spirit of the docuseries so beautifully.

Lots to be excited about. If nothing else, I hope you’ll watch this interview with Rabbi Buchdahl. She’s a great human being who has had a unique experience, and she’s quite good at sharing her perspectives.

Happy watching!