Angela Buchdahl Poster & Resources
Grade Span: 8-12
Themes:
Angela Buchdahl advocates for an inclusive and inviting form of Jewish communal life that embraces the diversity, complexity, and intersecting identities found among Jewish people. Her teachings and leadership as a rabbi and cantor center and elevate perspectives that deserve more celebration and recognition, ensuring Jewish spaces embrace the full and evolving expressions of Jewish life.
- Promoting inclusivity
- Celebrating diversity
- Building bridges and crossing borders
About
Born in Seoul, South Korea, Angela Buchdahl (b. 1972) is one of the most influential rabbis in the United States today. Angela and her family immigrated to the United States and she was raised in Tacoma, Washington. She would go on to become the first Korean-American ordained rabbi and cantor, going on to lead a historic synagogue in New York City. She is the author of Heart of a Stranger: An Unlikely Rabbi’s Story of Faith, Identity, and Belonging (Penguin Random House, October 2025).
Resources
Classroom Learning
Lesson Plans and Teaching Materials
Teach about Angela Buchdahl and explore complex identities with students.
- Jewish Diversity, Stories that Shaped a Nation: Jewish Lives in America
- Jewish Diaspora, Stories That Shaped a Nation: Jewish Lives in America
- Jewish Identity and the Complexities of Dual or Multiple Belongings, Facing History and Ourselves
- Jewish Diversity and Innovation: The View from the Kitchen, Jewish Women’s Archive
- Jewish Americans: Identity, History, and Experience, Institute for Curriculum Studies
- Questioning Jewish Identity, PBS LearningMedia
- The Quest for Religious Freedom, PBS LearningMedia
Children’s Books
Read to students about intersecting identities, border crossings, and diasporic cultures.
- What Jewish Looks Like by Liz Kleinrock and Caroline Kusin Pritchard
- A Place at the Table by Saadia Faruqi and Laura Shovan
- Chicken Soup, Chicken Soup by Pamela Mayer
- Abuelita’s Secret Matzahs by Sandy Esenbergsasso
- My Basmati Bat Mitzvah by Paula L. Freedman
Video of Picture Books Read Aloud
Teach about intersecting identities and cultures.
- A Place at the Table, Read with Val
- Chicken Soup, Chicken Soup, Read about US
Professional Learning
Websites
Videos
- Angela Buchdahl: Kimchi on the Seder Plate, Jewish Women’s Archive
- Isabel Wilkerson and Rabbi Angela Buchdahl on “Caste,” Museum of Jewish Heritage
Podcasts
- Central Synagogue Podcast, Central Synagogue
- Weekly Meditation with Angela Buchdahl, Central Synagogue