Search Interviews

Rabbi Sarah Berman (42) interviews Livia Thompson (63) about her life, her career, her family and connection to Judaism. Livia also talks about her experiences as the executive director of Central Synagogue, including her memories of the fire there in...

Marion Greenup (74) interviews her friend, Nancy Hannah Levy Torres (76), about her life, faith, and at times, fraught relationship to her Jewishness.

Zachary "Zach" Rolf (38) and his wife Hadley Rolf (32), engage in a conversation about how they met, their lives together, and the crucial role that Central Synagogue has played in their life story.

Peggy Epstein Tanner [no age given] and her husband David Tanner [no age given] talk about their respective Jewish backgrounds and education.

Sisters Susan Wagner (61) and Liz Wagner (57) interview one another about their connection to Central Synagogue and their Jewish journey from being cultural Jews as children without any ties to a synagogue to becoming adult b'not mitzvah, sought-after Hebrew...

Jill Sharfstein (72) interviews friend and fellow congregant Nancy Fisher (77) about her experiences as a member of Central Synagogue and her work interviewing Holocaust survivors for the Shoah Foundation.

Sue Dorn (87) is interviewed by her Rabbi, Sarah Berman, about her memories of growing up in a Jewish family in Seattle around WWII, moving to New York, meeting her husband and starting a family as well as pursuing an...

Jules Spotts (82) and his love partner Ethel Goldberg (83) follow up from their last interview to share the end of their story and talk about Jules recovery from a recent diagnosis with COVID-19.

Rabbi Angela Buchdahl (50) and Rabbi Peter Rubinstein (78) discuss their childhoods and their respective paths to becoming rabbis. They describe the roles played by rabbinic mentors along the way and their experiences each serving as Senior Rabbi for Central...

Howard Sharfstein (76) Jill Sharfstein (71) speak about their upbringings, their marriage and their 40 years as congregants of Central Synagogue. They discuss how Central became increasingly more important through Howard’s illness and their growing involvement after his recovery, including...

Lauren Dickel (31) and Freeman Shore (80) talk about their history and experiences with Central Synagogue in New York City.

Jordan Smoller [no age given] talks with his mother Sylvia Smoller [no age given] about her life including escape from Poland and the Nazis, becoming a refugee, her experience of becoming a world renowned scientist (with whom he sometimes co-authors),...

Friends Audrey Zucker (82) and Carolyn Breidenbach (93) talk about their experiences with Sisterhood at Central Synagogue from the 1970's to the late 90s and early 2000s.

Susan Picker [no age given] interviews her colleague and co-congregant Ami Samuels (62) about his background and how he came to be a member of Central Synagogue.

Brother and sister Freeman Shore (82) and Wini Freund [no age given] discuss growing up, their family history, and how they got involved at Central Synagogue.

Husband and wife Daniel (Dan) Ross [no age given] and Jade Sank Ross [no age given] share stories of how they became rabbis, when they first felt they were rabbis for real, how Dan transitioned from Hillel rabbi to Central...

Miles Gerstein (73) and his wife Susan Davis (71) discuss their membership in Central Synagogue, their life together, their childhood memories of Judaism and some of their life lessons.

Mother and daughter Robin [no age given] and Carla [no age given] discuss Carla's daughter, Talia, who died of Tay-Sachs disease at 23 months old. They talk about their relationship around this experience and discuss discovery of strengths and connections.

Friends Sharon Gunderson [no age given] and Ed Saslaw [no age given] discuss growing up, parents, Hebrew School, Shabbat and Judaism.

Monica Corton (56) interviews her friend, Laura Strauss (89), about her connection to Central Synagogue, the impact that her relationships and involvement at Central have had on her life, and their experiences counting the Omer together.

Arden Donohue (31) and Gail Sinai (62) talk about their friendship, their connections to Judaism, and Central's Mishkan program.

Edward "Ed" Saslaw (70) and Alissa Ballot (66) speak about their families, upbringing, relationship to Central Synagogue and Judaism.

Mother and daughter Ruth Perelson [no age given] and Lois Perelson-Gross [no age given] talk about Ruth's 50 year membership at Central Synagogue and her project CLEWS, which was designed to teach members how to observe Shabbat.

Estelle "Nicki" Tanner [no age given] interviews friend and colleague Burton Lehman (81) about his experiences and relationship to Hebrew Union College (HUC) and Central Synagogue.

Rabbi Sarah Berman (41) and her friend and congregant, Gail Sinai (61) share their professional and spiritual journeys and their experience during and immediately after the Covid pandemic.