We hope you’re ready for a day full of community, creativity and collaboration with more than 100 Jewish writers across genres and levels of experience.
Below, you’ll find our schedule for the day, but keep scrolling to learn more about each program and the presenters.
The 2025 Jewish Writers Mifgash Schedule
Keynote: Two Rabbis Walk into a Writers Conference…
This keynote conversation between two author-rabbis will explore spirituality and the tradition of creativity in Judaism, as well as the importances and challenges of being a Jewish creative during our current times. Speakers: Rabbi Angela Buchdahl and Rabbi Rena Rossner.
Rabbi Angela Warnick Buchdahl serves as the Senior Rabbi of Central Synagogue in New York City, the first woman to lead this flagship congregation in its 185 year history. Under her leadership, Central Synagogue has grown to become one of the largest synagogues in the world, including congregants attending via livestream in more than one hundred countries. Born in Korea to a Jewish American father and a Korean Buddhist mother, she is the first Asian-American to be ordained as a rabbi in North America. Rabbi Buchdahl was invited by President Barack Obama in 2014 and President Joe Biden in 2023 to share blessings for the White House Hanukah Party. She has been featured in dozens of news outlets including the Today Show, NPR, Wall Street Journal, PBS and Newsweek's Most Influential Rabbis. Rabbi Buchdahl and her husband, Jacob Buchdahl, live in New York City and have three children.
Rabbi Rena Rossner…..
Panel: Writing for Change
What are the unique opportunities and challenges of creating during times of upheaval, cultural reckoning, or crisis? Our panelists will discuss the complexities of responding to the moment, how their work is shaped by current events, and offer insight into what it means to create in trying times. Speakers: Tali Rosenblatt-Cohen (moderator), Vanessa Hidary, Isaac Blum, Adam Kirsch.
Tali Rosenblatt-Cohen is the host of The Five Books podcast, interviewing Jewish authors about the books near and dear to them. She has toggled between the publishing world and Jewish communal life. After graduating from Barnard College, she was co-director of the Jewish student group, Lights-in-Action, and then worked as a literary agent for nearly ten years. She has served on the Boards of numerous Jewish institutions, including the Natan Fund where she currently chairs their Notable Books award committee. She has taught writing classes for Gotham Writer’s Workshop and written reviews for Kirkus. Her writing has been published by New York Family Magazine (where she was also a staff writer and editor of their parenting blogs), The New York Jewish Week, The Forward and others.
Adam Kirsch is a poet, literary critic and editor at the Wall Street Journal. He is the author most recently of "On Settler Colonialism: Ideology, Violence and Justice."
Isaac Blum is an award-winning author and educator. His debut novel, The Life and Crimes of Hoodie Rosen, was longlisted for the National Book Award, and won the William C. Morris Award from the American Library Association. His second YA novel, The Judgment of Yoyo Gold, was a finalist for the National Jewish Book Award. You can visit him online at isaacblumauthor.com and follow him on Instagram @isaacblum_
Vanessa Hidary is a trailblazing spoken word artist, educator, and advocate whose work has had a profound impact on both the Jewish community and beyond. Over two decades ago, she began performing her powerful poetry in New York City venues, becoming a pioneering voice for Jewish identity in the slam poetry scene.
Inspired by her own Syrian-Jewish heritage, she founded the Kaleidoscope Project, a narrative-arts initiative that amplifies the stories of Jews of Color, Sephardic and Mizrahi Jews, and those with interfaith experiences. In addition to her work in the arts, Vanessa has become a prominent advocate for Jewish unity in the wake of the rising antisemitism post-October 7th, 2023. She intensified her activism, traveling to Israel to show solidarity, perform new works, and document stories. Through her spoken word performances, workshops, and advocacy, Vanessa Hidary has created a lasting legacy by amplifying marginalized voices and fostering unity within the Jewish community.