The College Commons Podcast

Novelist Howard Langer transplants a fictional Hasidic Dynasty to the heart of segregated America, to discover a truly New World.Biography: Howard Langer was born in New York and brought up on the west side of Manhattan. His father served on the U.S.S. Missouri and was present at the Japanese surrender in 1945. His mother taught reading in Spanish Harlem for over thirty years. Howard attended the City College of New York when its English faculty included, among others, William Gaddis and Joseph Heller. He obtained a teacher’s degree from the Greenberg Institute in Jerusalem where he had the opportunity to study under Yehuda Amichai and Aharon Appelfeld. He holds an M.A.in English from the University of Toronto, where he studied Shakespeare with the great scholar-poet Sheldon Zitner, who first published his remarkable books of poetry at age 75, decades after Howard graduated.Howard won awards for his fiction as an undergraduate. He ultimately attended law school at the University of Pennsylvania where he has taught for the last twenty years. His law practice has specialized in protecting the vulnerable and his most notable case involved a class action that recovered $200 million from a bank that had abetted fraudulent telemarketers who preyed on the poor and elderly. The case restored to the victims all that had been taken by the telemarketers. His pro bono work has been recognized by the Philadelphia Bar Association and Community Legal Services among others. His text on Antitrust law, The Competition Law of the United States, is currently in its fourth edition. He has published a number of short non-fiction pieces in recent years. Publications.He began writing The Last Dekreptizer in 2021 after attending a zoom workshop by George Saunders sponsored by the Free Library of Philadelphia at the height of the Covid pandemic. Inspired by Saunder’s presentation, Howard began writing the next morning what eventually morphed into the novel.Howard and his wife live in Philadelphia. He has two adult sons.

Rabbi Yitz Greenberg takes us on a majestic odyssey of religious purpose and Covenant.Biography: Rabbi Irving (Yitz) Greenberg serves as the President of the J.J. Greenberg Institute for the Advancement of Jewish Life (JJGI) and as Senior Scholar in Residence at Hadar. Rabbi Greenberg was ordained by Beth Joseph Rabbinical Seminary of Brooklyn, New York and has a PhD in history from Harvard University. He has had a long and notable career in the service of the Jewish people. He served in the rabbinate, notably at the Riverdale Jewish Center in the 1960s. He served as professor and chairman of the Department of Jewish Studies of City College of the City University of New York in the 1970s. Together with Elie Wiesel, he founded CLAL: The National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership and served as its president until 1997.CLAL offered pluralistic Jewish learning for Jewish communal leadership and programs of intra-faith dialogue for rabbis of every denominational background. From 1997 to 2008, he served as founding president of Jewish Life Network/Steinhardt Foundation which created such programs as birthright Israel and the Partnership for Excellence in Jewish Education. Rabbi Greenberg was one of the activist/founders of the Student Struggle for Soviet Jewry in the movement to liberate Russian Jewry. He was a pioneer in the development of Holocaust education and commemoration. When Elie Wiesel served as chairman of the President’s Commission on the Holocaust, Rabbi Greenberg served as its (Executive) Director. The Commission recommended and drew the blueprint for the creation of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum on the National Mall in Washington. He served as the Museum’s chairman from 2000-2002. He is a leading Jewish thinker and has written extensively on post-Holocaust Jewish religious thought, Jewish-Christian relations, pluralism, and the ethics of Jewish power. In his book, Interpreters of Judaism in the Late Twentieth Century, Professor Steven T. Katz wrote: “No Jewish thinker has had a greater impact on the American Jewish Community in the last two decades than Irving (Yitz) Greenberg.” In his new book, The Triumph of Life (forthcoming), he argues that the Holocaust and the Jewish assumption of power in creating the state of Israel are the beginning of a new era in Jewish history. Together, these two events usher in a third stage of Jewish religion.

Author Danielle Sharkan finds cultural identity in multicultural community, in her picture book Sharing Shalom.Biography: Danielle grew up in the sub­urbs of Chica­go and has sincehad the priv­i­lege of liv­ing in Cana­da, Israel, and Argenti­na. As an edu­ca­tor and a proud moth­er of two won­der­ful chil­dren, she is deeply com­mit­ted to both per­son­al and pro­fes­sion­al growth. Danielle is pas­sion­ate about nature, yoga, and all things Israel — espe­cial­lyits vibrant culi­nary cul­ture. She cur­rent­ly resides in Boul­der, Col­orado, where she enjoys spend­ing time with her fam­i­ly, explor­ing the out­doors, and embrac­ing the beau­ty of life in the Rockies.

Rabbi Angela Buchdahl disentangles the power of the pulpit from the stature of its holder, by sharing the vulnerability, musicality and ethical of sermons.Biography: Rabbi Angela Warnick Buchdahl serves as the Senior Rabbi of Central Synagogue in New York City and is the first woman to lead Central’s Reform congregation in its 180-year history. Rabbi Buchdahl first joined Central Synagogue as Senior Cantor in 2006. In 2014, she was chosen by the congregation to be Senior Rabbi. Rabbi Buchdahl was invested as a cantor in 1999 and also ordained as a rabbi in 2001 by the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in New York where she was a Wexner Graduate Fellow. She earned a bachelor of arts in religious studies from Yale University in 1994. Born in Korea to a Jewish American father and a Korean Buddhist mother, Rabbi Buchdahl is the first Asian American to be ordained as a cantor or rabbi in North America. Prior to her service at Central Synagogue, Rabbi Buchdahl served as Associate Rabbi/Cantor at Westchester Reform Temple in Scarsdale, New York. Rabbi Buchdahl has been nationally recognized for her innovations in leading worship, which draw large crowds both in the congregation’s historic Main Sanctuary and via livestream and cable broadcast to viewers in more than 100 countries. Rabbi Buchdahl has been featured in dozens of news outlets including the Today Show, NPR, and PBS and was listed as one of Newsweek’s “America’s 50 Most Influential Rabbis.” She serves on the boards of the AJC, the Asia Society, the New York Board of Rabbis, and the Yale University President's Council. Rabbi Buchdahl and her husband Jacob Buchdahl have three children.

Author and activist Lihi Lapid follows characters who yearn for each other across space, time and even cognition.Biography:Lihi Lapid is a writer, journalist, lecturer and performer, symbolizing the voice of the contemporary Israeli woman. Her activity in various media has earned her a following that sweeps through social media with thousands of shares and comments.Her books have been on the bestseller lists for weeks, led by the book "A Soldier's Wife," which is a milestone in personal female writing in Hebrew.Lapid has published two novels, in addition to a book intended for mothers who enlist their children, two children's books, and a recipe book.She used to be a photojournalist and is now a writer, lecturer, and performer.Lapid is active in social issues, with an emphasis on two areas: women's rights and parenting children with special needs. She is the president of the "Shekel - Community Services for People with Disabilities" association.

Author Lee Yaron resists the simplification of politics, people, and, most of all, of October 7th — in favor of nuance and humanity.Biography:Lee Yaron is an award-winning Israeli journalist.Her new book, "10/7: 100 Human Stories," won the 2024 National Jewish Book Award  Book of the Year — and the 2025 Natan Notable Books award.At 30, Yaron is the youngest Book of the Year recipient in the award's history. She joins distinguished past winners including Philip Roth, Elie Wiesel, David Grossman and Amos Oz.She was selected for the prestigious 2025 Forbes 30 Under 30 list.Her investigative journalism on corruption, social issues, and environmental concerns has prompted the establishment of state-level commissions and driven changes in Israeli policy and law. This work earned her the 2022 Yitzhak Livni "Knight" Award for Free Speech in Media. She currently serves as an elected member-representative on the Executive Committee of the Union of Israeli Journalists.Website: https://www.leeyaron.com/

Rabbi Marc Katz uses the historical imagination to plumb the depths of Judaism’s greatest choice for survival.

Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove, Senior Rabbi at Park Avenue Synagogue, offers profound insights into the evolving landscape of Judaism and Israel. He discusses the resilience of American Jewry, drawing parallels with the biblical story of Queen Esther amidst rising anti-Semitism. The dialogue shifts to the complexities of the two-state solution and the diaspora’s role in fostering hope. Rabbi Cosgrove emphasizes the need for ethical discourse within the community, advocating for mutual respect and collaboration in light of recent tragedies.

In this engaging discussion, Rabbi Joshua Weinberg, a leader in Reform Zionism, dives deep into the nuances of Liberal Zionism. He reflects on Israel's Declaration of Independence and its contemporary significance. The conversation shifts to the evolution of Jewish identity post-October 7th, weighing community responsibilities and ethical dilemmas. Rabbi Weinberg also explores the diverse connections American Jews have with Israel, emphasizing the need for younger generations to become more engaged. Personal stories about music and shared experiences further enrich this multifaceted dialogue.

Poet Menachem Rosensaft transforms the Psalms into a search for God who permitted the Holocaust.