Supreme Court Justice Arthur and Dorothy Goldberg’s Legendary Passover Seders

In 1960s Washington, the Goldbergs hosted annual seders famous for weaving the Haggadah together with the songs and history of the labor movement. As Arthur Goldberg’s career carried him from representing steelworkers, to serving as JFK’s Labor Secretary, to a seat on the Supreme Court, the guest list grew from local Jewish families and labor leaders to include Washington’s A-list. Arthur and his wife, Dorothy—an artist and activist in her own right—filled their civil-rights-themed seders with joy and music. (Picture Dorothy singing Yiddish labor songs, AFL-CIO leader George Meany belting Irish ballads, and Chief Justice Earl Warren warbling “The Yellow Rose of Texas.”)

Join us for a night of stories from guests lucky enough to have known the Goldbergs and attended these gatherings.

Presented in partnership with the Supreme Court Historical Society.

Image caption: Photograph by Mel Chamowitz, gift of the photographer. Capital Jewish Museum Collection.

Sec. of Labor Arthur Goldberg being greeted by officers and spiritual leaders on the occasion of Shabbat services on Memorial Day at Adas Israel Congregation, 1961. (L to R): Cantor Ray Edgar, synagogue president Joseph  Blumenthal, Sec. Goldberg, Rabbi Stanley Rabinowitz, and first VP of the congregation, Samuel Lebowitz.