The John A. Widtsoe Foundation is deeply committed to elevating dialogue between members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and other religious communities. This year's Church-wide study of the Old Testament presents a unique opportunity for members to better understand and learn from our Jewish neighbors, who have engaged with these scriptures for thousands of years. Each month, Widtsoe Foundation Director Dr. Jacob Rennaker will host a live online conversation and Q&A with a leader or scholar from the Jewish community about an upcoming topic from the Church's Come, Follow Me curriculum. This series will serve to educate Latter-day Saints about the rich history of Jewish scriptural interpretation and application, while at the same time modeling meaningful interfaith conversations and empowering Latter-day Saints to do the same in their own communities. These events will be made available on The Widtsoe Foundation YouTube Channel and podcast soon after the live event.

For this live conversation and Q&A, we talked about the story of Joseph in Egypt (Genesis 42-55) from a Jewish perspective with special guest Rabbi Annie Tucker.   

Rabbi Tucker is the Senior Rabbi at Temple Israel Center in White Plains, New York, having previously served congregations in both suburban Chicago and Princeton, NJ.  A Wexner Graduate Fellow, she did her undergraduate work at the University of Pennsylvania and then earned a master's degree in Jewish Education from the Jewish Theological Seminary, continuing on in the Seminary's rabbinical program where she was ordained in 2006 with a concentration in Pastoral Counseling.  Rabbi Tucker is the incoming Secretary of the Rabbinical Assembly where she also chairs their Joint Placement Commission.  One of the highlights of her work is teaching Bible BaBoker (Morning Bible), a Shabbat morning class on the weekly Torah portion.