Presented by the Institute for Jewish Spirituality

IJS Book Talk with Rabbi Angela Buchdahl

About This Event

Rabbi Angela Buchdahl, in Conversation with IJS President & CEO, Rabbi Josh Feigelson

Rabbi Angela Buchdahl brings her intelligence, wisdom, and warmth to a conversation about her book, Heart of a Stranger. In this moving and timely work, Buchdahl weaves personal narrative, Jewish teaching, and contemporary reflection to explore what it means to live faithfully and expansively in a world shaped by difference, displacement, and longing.  Drawing on her experience as a spiritual leader, including her participation in IJS's Clergy Leadership Program, she invites readers to encounter the stranger—both within ourselves and beyond our communities—with empathy and responsibility.
 
In conversation with Rabbi Josh Feigelson, Rabbi Buchdahl will reflect on the spiritual practices and ethical commitments that shape a life of welcome and belonging. Together, they will explore how Jewish wisdom and spiritual practice can help us respond to today’s social and spiritual challenges with clarity, resilience, and hope—offering pathways toward deeper connection, courage, and a more compassionate public life.

This session will include Zoom’s auto-generated captioning. To enable captions during the event, simply select the "CC" icon in your meeting toolbar.

 
About Rabbi Angela Buchdahl
Rabbi Angela Warnick Buchdahl is a pioneering reform rabbi and cantor. She was invested as a cantor in 1999 and also ordained as a rabbi in 2001 by the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in New York where she was a Wexner Graduate Fellow. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in Religious Studies from Yale University in 1994. Born in Korea to a Jewish American father and a Korean Buddhist mother, Rabbi Buchdahl is the first Asian American to be ordained as a cantor or rabbi in North America. Before her service at Central Synagogue, Rabbi Buchdahl served as Associate Rabbi/Cantor at Westchester Reform Temple in Scarsdale, New York.
 
She has been nationally recognized for her innovations in leading worship, which draw large crowds both in the congregation’s historic Main Sanctuary and via livestream and cable broadcast to viewers in more than 100 countries. She has been featured in dozens of news outlets including the Today Show, NPR, and PBS and was listed as one of Newsweek’s “America’s 50 Most Influential Rabbis.” She serves on the boards of the AJC, the Asia Society, the New York Board of Rabbis, and the Yale University President's Council.
 
Rabbi Buchdahl’s memoir, Heart of a Stranger, released in October 2025 became an instant New York Times bestseller.

About This Event

Rabbi Angela Buchdahl, in Conversation with IJS President & CEO, Rabbi Josh Feigelson

Rabbi Angela Buchdahl brings her intelligence, wisdom, and warmth to a conversation about her book, Heart of a Stranger. In this moving and timely work, Buchdahl weaves personal narrative, Jewish teaching, and contemporary reflection to explore what it means to live faithfully and expansively in a world shaped by difference, displacement, and longing.  Drawing on her experience as a spiritual leader, including her participation in IJS's Clergy Leadership Program, she invites readers to encounter the stranger—both within ourselves and beyond our communities—with empathy and responsibility.
 
In conversation with Rabbi Josh Feigelson, Rabbi Buchdahl will reflect on the spiritual practices and ethical commitments that shape a life of welcome and belonging. Together, they will explore how Jewish wisdom and spiritual practice can help us respond to today’s social and spiritual challenges with clarity, resilience, and hope—offering pathways toward deeper connection, courage, and a more compassionate public life.

This session will include Zoom’s auto-generated captioning. To enable captions during the event, simply select the "CC" icon in your meeting toolbar.

 
About Rabbi Angela Buchdahl
Rabbi Angela Warnick Buchdahl is a pioneering reform rabbi and cantor. She was invested as a cantor in 1999 and also ordained as a rabbi in 2001 by the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in New York where she was a Wexner Graduate Fellow. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in Religious Studies from Yale University in 1994. Born in Korea to a Jewish American father and a Korean Buddhist mother, Rabbi Buchdahl is the first Asian American to be ordained as a cantor or rabbi in North America. Before her service at Central Synagogue, Rabbi Buchdahl served as Associate Rabbi/Cantor at Westchester Reform Temple in Scarsdale, New York.
 
She has been nationally recognized for her innovations in leading worship, which draw large crowds both in the congregation’s historic Main Sanctuary and via livestream and cable broadcast to viewers in more than 100 countries. She has been featured in dozens of news outlets including the Today Show, NPR, and PBS and was listed as one of Newsweek’s “America’s 50 Most Influential Rabbis.” She serves on the boards of the AJC, the Asia Society, the New York Board of Rabbis, and the Yale University President's Council.
 
Rabbi Buchdahl’s memoir, Heart of a Stranger, released in October 2025 became an instant New York Times bestseller.

Event Details

Date: Wednesday, March 4, 8:00 PM ET

Location: 
Zoom call-in details will be sent upon confirmation