The first Asian-American ordained as a rabbi, she was chosen by President Barack Obama to lead prayers at the 2014 White House Hanukkah celebration.
When a gunman took four hostages at Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, Texas, in 2023, she was the rabbi he demanded to speak with to negotiate their release.
She was the first woman ordained as both a cantor and a rabbi, serves as the spiritual leader of New York’s Central Synagogue and has even been a clue on Jeopardy.
Angela Buchdahl rose to these heights despite the naysayers and her personal doubts. In her new book, Heart of a Stranger: An Unlikely Rabbi's Story of Faith, Identity, and Belonging, Rabbi Buchdahl traces her unique story about growing up with a Korean Buddhist mother and a Jewish American father, her teenage dream of becoming a rabbi, her first trip to Israel and rising to the pulpit of one of the most prominent congregations in America.
She joins us to discuss her journey from outsider to officiant, from feeling estranged to feeling embraced and her commitment to striving for a world of more humanity, especially in today’s challenging times. Rabbi Buchdahl in conversation with Stephen Colbert.
Rabbi Buchdahl will then be joined by people who have and continue to shape her life, including:
Rabbi Sharon Cohen Anisfeld, President of Hebrew College
Rabbi Rick Jacobs, President of the Union for Reform Judaism
Abigail Pogrebin, Former President, Central Synagogue
Sulja Yi Warnick, Rabbi Buchdahl’s mother