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.ABOUT THE SPEAKERSStephen Breyer clerked for Justice Goldberg in the 1964 Term and served as an Associate Justice from 1994 to 2022. He will participate by a recorded video.Kathleen Brylawski Miller and her family lived next door to theGoldbergson Albemarle Street and attended their seder in 1961.Kathleen’sfather Henry was a lawyer and historic preservationistand was a president of The Jewish Historical Society of Greater Washington, the predecessor to the Capital Jewish Museum.Kathleenis a retired librarian.Michael Caplin and hisfamily were guests at a Goldberg seder shortly after moving to Washington in 1961 when Michael’s father, Mortimer Caplin, was appointed Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service under President Kennedy.Michael is an attorney specializing in social entrepreneurship and non-profit management.James A. Feldman attended a Goldberg seder in 1962 when hisfather,Myer (Mike)Feldmanwas a close aide, speechwriter and counsel to PresidentKennedyand a close friend of Arthur Goldberg.Jamesclerked for Supreme Court Justice William Brennan andwas Assistant to the Solicitor General from 1989-2006.Hewas an adjunct professor at the University of PennsylvaniaLaw School andhasarguedover 50cases before the Supreme Court.Steven V. Roberts.In 1966 Steve, who is Jewish,married renowned journalist and author Cokie Roberts, who was Catholic. Her parents, Hale andLindyBoggs, had befriended the Goldbergs in the early1960s while Hale was serving as a memberof the Democratic leadership in the House of Representatives. Justice Goldberg helpedconduct Steve and Cokie's wedding and invited them to a seder in New York in thelate 60s. The young couple then started holding their own seders partly inspired by the Goldbergs, and published their own Haggadah aimed at interfaith families. Steve is still a practicing journalist and professor at George Washington University and carries on their seder tradition.John Shulman is the founder and managing partner at Juggernaut Capital. John has had a lifetime of connections to the Supreme Court: hisfather, Stephen, worked for several justices and Shulman and his brothers each had a Supreme Court justice as a godparent: John Harlan, Arthur Goldberg, and Felix Frankfurter. TheShulmanfamily attended a Goldberg family seder in 1972.Image caption: Arthur and Dorothy Goldberg at home with their son, Robert, in 1961. President Kennedy had just appointed Goldberg to be Secretary of Labor.