A conversation with Abigail Pogrebin on what is currently unfolding in Israel and "has Israel fulfilled its founders' dreams?"
My conversation this past week, with the very talented author, speaker and thinker, Abigail Pogrebin, at Temple Emanu-El's Streicker Center in New York
Abigail Pogrebin is the author of several wonderful books, including My Jewish Year: 18 Holidays; One Wondering Jew, which was a finalist for the 2018 National Jewish Book Award. Her bestselling Kindle Single, Showstopper, chronicled her teenage adventures on Broadway in a rare Sondheim flop. She was an Emmy-nominated producer for Mike Wallace at 60 Minutes, and before that produced for Bill Moyers at PBS.
She has moderated conversations at The Streicker Center, The JCC in Manhattan, UJA Federation, and the Shalom Hartman Institute. Tablet Magazine’s podcast, “Parsha in Progress” features a regular Torah discussion with Abigail and Rabbi Dov Linzer (President of Yeshivat Chovevei Torah). Abby received the “Impact Award” from the JCC in Manhattan, and the “Community Leader Award” from The Jewish Week in 2017. She served as President of Central Synagogue from 2015-18, and was Director of Jewish Outreach for Michael Bloomberg’s 2020 presidential campaign.
I have had several opportunities over the years to be in dialogue with Abby, and always find myself thinking anew, learning from her insights and questions, and at the same time, thoroughly enjoying speaking with her. We got together this past week in New York at Temple Emanu-El’s Streicker Center, for a discussion of both where Israel finds itself on the eve of Yom HaAtzma’ut, its 75th Independence Day, as well as the question at the heart of my new book, “has Israel fulfilled its founders dreams?”
I’m very grateful to Abigail for her warm graciousness in agreeing to be part of this conversation, and share this video of the program with thanks to the Streicker center. (Our conversation begins at 12:39 in the video …. there’s a lot of warm-up….!)
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