On January 28, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro spoke to a packed house of over 400 at the Newton JCC’s Riemer Goldstein Theater about his new book, Where We Keep the Light: Stories From a Life of Service. Shapiro is an influential governor widely speculated to be preparing a 2028 run for President.
Marty Baron, former executive editor of The Boston Globe and The Washington Post, interviewed Shapiro.
As the book significantly addresses Shapiro’s Jewish faith, much of his early discussion with Baron centered on how Shapiro’s faith affects his values, his family life, and his interactions with constituents of other religions. Shapiro said that being open and expressive about Judaism and the large role Judaism plays in his life has brought him closer to people from different religious groups.
Asked if the U.S. could elect a Jewish President, Shapiro said, “I think this country is prepared to elect someone who can get stuff done for them, regardless of what they look like, where they come from, who they love, or who they pray to, period.”
Baron then asked Shapiro if he planned to run for President in 2028. Shapiro cautioned the attendees against thinking about 2028, and instead to completely focus on the 2026 mid-term elections. Shapiro said:
“Our country is on fire, right? We are seeing a level of chaos and cruelty and corruption that is unprecedented. And I know [many of you here] probably turn off the TV, because you can’t take it, and pull up the covers, and just hope it will go away. And to me, that’s not going to work. We need active engagement of all our citizens across this country, in these midterms, to begin to curtail this cruelty of the Trump administration.”
In a discussion about his investigation of child sexual abuse within the Catholic Church in Pennsylvania, Shapiro stated that many survivors said that the Pulitzer-Prize-winning work of the Globe’s Spotlight Team under Baron gave them the courage to testify.
In her introduction to the event, Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey spoke warmly of her relationship with Shapiro. She also spoke of the arson attack on Shapiro’s home and family on Passover 2025 and his response. She then deplored the rise of antisemitism in the U.S. and praised the recent work of the Special Commission on Combating Antisemitism in Massachusetts.
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