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On Demand:

At The Pulpit With Rabbi Angela Buchdahl – Nonfiction

Original program date: Sat, Nov. 22, 2025
Original location: Chapman – Building 3, Second Floor, Room 3210
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Both a memoir and spiritual guide for everyday living, Heart of a Stranger: An Unlikely Rabbi’s Story of Faith, Identity, and Belonging chronicles Angela Buchdahl’s journey to become the first Asian American rabbi. Despite the naysayers and periods of self-doubt, Buchdahl stayed the course, finally landing at the pulpit of one of the largest, most influential congregations in the world. Buchdahl will be in conversation with journalist and author Abigail Pogrebin, moderated by Stacey Mindich, theater producer and MBF advisory council member.

Buy Heart of a Stranger: An Unlikely Rabbi’s Story of Faith Identity and Belonging – Buchdahl

Authors

ABIGAIL POGREBIN is the author of My Jewish Year: 18 Holidays, One Wondering Jew, which was a finalist for a 2017 National Jewish Book Award. In 2024, she co-authored, with Orthodox Rabbi Dov Linzer, It Takes Two to Torah: An Orthodox Rabbi and Reform Journalist Discuss and Debate Their Way Through the Five Books of Moses, which won the 2025 Independent Press Award for religion nonfiction. A former Emmy-nominated producer for 60 Minutes, her first book was Stars of David: Prominent Jews Talk About Being Jewish. Her interview podcast is In the Spotlight, and she’s written for The New York Times, The Atlantic, and The Forward.

STACEY MINDICH is a Tony-, Grammy-, and Olivier award-winning producer and writer. As sole lead producer, she nurtured the global hit Dear Evan Hansen through an eight-year development to acclaimed Broadway, North American Tour, and West End runs. The show broke box office records, initiated a worldwide conversation about mental health, won six Tony Awards, three Olivier Awards, and a Grammy. Mindich has produced more than 30 productions and was the recipient of the Robert Whitehead Award for Excellence in Commercial Producing, the Actor’s Fund Medal of Honor, and a Lilly Award, for championing women in theater. Prior to theater producing, she was a journalist and essayist. She is a trustee of Miami New Drama and the Jewish Book Council, and serves as an advisor to Miami Book Fair.

ANGELA BUCHDAHL is the first Asian American rabbi. She serves as the senior rabbi of Central Synagogue in New York, the first woman to lead this flagship congregation in its 185-year history. Under her leadership, Central has grown to become one of the largest synagogues in the world, with livestream viewers in more than 100 countries. She has led prayers in the White House for two U.S. presidents and is frequently featured on national news outlets including Today, NPR, and The Wall Street Journal to speak on the moral issues of the day. Buchdahl and her husband live in New York and have three children.

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