Rabbi Angela Buchdahl Says "Keep Our Caring Community at the Core"

Rabbis Blake and Buchdahl in ConversationCantor, Rabbi and now NY Times best-selling author Angela Buchdahl was greeted by over 500 followers for a discussion with Rabbi Jonathan Blake about her new book – and her life – on Wednesday April 15, 2026 at Westchester Reform Temple.

Though her book is titled “Heart of a Stranger,” she is no stranger to WRT in Scarsdale where she started working as a sophomore in college as a song leader, eventually rising to the role of the synagogue’s first female Senior Rabbi before moving on to become a cantor at Central Synagogue for eight years and to her current role as their first female – and Korean-American -- Senior Rabbi for the past twelve years.

Concluding a two-month sabbatical and 45 stop book tour, Buchdahl appeared to be as happy to return to Scarsdale as her many fans were to see her in person.

The full title of the book is “Heart of a Stranger: An Unlikely Rabbi’s Story of Faith, Identity and Belonging,” and Buchdahl described her journey to the congregation saying, “I was born in South Korea – and I was bi-racial. Even little kids would say “you don’t look like most Koreans.”” And it was no better in Tacoma Washington where the family moved when she was six years old. “The Americans thought I was Korean – and the Korean’s thought I was American.” Tacoma had a tiny Jewish community with only three Jews in her high school, the second being her sister.

The offspring of a Korean mother and a Jewish father, even when she went to study in Israel she was not accepted. She said she was so crushed when her roommate in Israel told her she was not really Jewish, that she decided to “lean in and become a Rabbi.”

When she eventually moved to Scarsdale, she says it was “like Jewish nirvana – I couldn’t believe that all the supermarkets had kosher for Passover food. And public school was off on Yom Kippur.”

In addition to serving at one of the world’s most prominent synagogues, Buchdahl raised three children during her tenure. How did she manage it all?

She found the answer in her faith. She said, “Shabbat saved my Jewish life. We started celebrating Shabbat every Saturday afternoon with a group of like-minded families who we met at our children’s Jewish day school. None of us had any other plans. There was nothing we could do until the sun went down. The kids played games and we sat and talked. That was the saving grace of our Jewish family.” She also stressed the importance of friendships, adding, “I have a crew of female friends that are my brain trust.”

Moving from the past to the present, Blake asked Buchdahl to share her views about Judaism and politics: He said, “How should we respond when people tell us they don’t want their rabbis talking politics?”

Buchdahl was clear with her response. She said, “We provide comfort and we also provide words to create a better world. My expertise is Judaism – not politics – but with integrity we want to present Jewish ways of seeing something and how they might impact the way we make decisions. Judaism has never had one titular head like the Pope. There have always been factions of Jews. There are always a few ways of being Jewish. We are blessedly idealogically diverse. It makes me reconsider opinions over and over again. I present both sides – the minority opinion as well.”

Quoting the title of a recent article in The New Yorker, Blake asked Buchdahl, “Are synagogues coming apart at the seams about Israel?”

Again Buchdahl had a calming, rationale and reassuring response. She said, “You’re seeing extreme emotions over this. It has never been harder to talk about Israel and I did not want to lose people in my community over Israel. But I don’t think our community is falling apart at the seams….We are a spiritual community and we are still taking care of each other. We see each other as good human beings. We have to be decent to each other. We are serving something higher – bigger than ourselves. When we pray together and sing, when we lift our voices, when we help someone who is ill, the kindness transcends Israel – and disagreement. We can keep our caring community at the core.”

Describing the role of the clergy she said, “We are in the business of spiritual transcendence – the awe business. …. If I want people to feel something – the quickest way is to sing to them.”

And that’s how she ended her visit. Buchdahl awed the room with a beautiful solo rendition of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” accompanied by her guitar – and was then joined by Rabbi Blake and Rabbi Kleinman for a harmonious performance.

Rabbi Buchdahl with the WRT clergy, Rabbi Blake, Rabbi Platcow, Cantor Kleinman and Cantor Sonett-Assor