Joe Lieberman and Matt Lieberman

In Conversation with David Lewis, David Lewis Productions

Community Partners: Congregation Etz Chaim; Congregation Shearith Israel; The Weber School

Drawing on the Bible and rabbinic literature, US politics and modern legal theory, Jewish humor and American folklore, former Senator Joe Lieberman follows the annual journey from Egypt to Sinai, illustrating that there can be no liberty without law, no freedom without justice. The book’s 50 short essays reflect on the value of law in general and Jewish law in particular. They contain his thoughts on public service and religious obligation, and his experiences as a politician in Connecticut and Washington. Lieberman touches on such issues as civil rights, environmental protection and LGBT rights, all in a biblical context, paying special attention to the Ten Commandments.

Matt Lieberman, former headmaster of Greenfield Hebrew Academy (Atlanta Jewish Academy), appears in conversation with his father, discussing his debut novel, Lucius, an imaginative retelling of the Huckleberry Finn story with themes that are also rooted in the concept of slavery and freedom. 

About the Authors:

Joe Lieberman was a US senator from Connecticut for twenty-four years. At the end of his service in January 2013, he was Chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee and a senior member of the Armed Services Committee. In 2000, he was the Democratic candidate for Vice President of the United States. Now senior counsel at the law firm of Kasowitz, Benson, Torres LLP in New York and Chairman of United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI), Senator Lieberman is the author of seven books on history, government, law, and religion, including The Gift of Rest: Rediscovering the Beauty of the Sabbath. He is married to Hadassah Freilich Lieberman. They have four children and eleven grandchildren.

Matt Lieberman was born, raised, educated, and started his family and career in New Haven, Connecticut. Though trained as a lawyer, the first part of his career was in education as a teacher and head of school. Since 2005, Matt and his family have lived in Atlanta, and since 2007 he has been an entrepreneur. A graduate of Yale College and Yale Law School, "Lucius" is his debut novel.