Gov. Josh Shapiro speaks with Rev. Marshall Mitchell during a Jan. 24 event at the Free Library of Philadelphia. (Photo credit: Stephen Silver)
Gov. Josh Shapiro launched the tour for his new book, “Where We Keep the Light: Stories From a Life of Service,” with an event at the Free Library of Philadelphia’s Parkway Central location on Jan. 24, part of the library’s Author Events series.
The event, which filled the library’s main auditorium as well as an overflow room, featured Shapiro interviewed on stage by his friend, Rev. Marshall Mitchell of Salem Baptist Church, in the governor’s hometown of Abington.
“As your pastor … every Jewish kid should have a pastor,” Mitchell joked.
The governor’s Jewish faith, as it often does, came up a lot during the hour-long event.
“I grew up in a home that was pretty structured around religion,” Shapiro said. “My parents sent me to a faith-based school, and we would have Shabbat dinner every Friday night … something Lori and I continue to do to this day with our children.”
“It was very centered around religious institutions — that’s what my faith was like for a good chunk of my life,” he added. “But as Lori and I had our four kids, and we were choosing to raise them to care about the world around them, and as we evolved in our faith, I found that I began to get a deeper connection to my faith that was less connected to institutions … Less time in a synagogue, but more time praying. Less time in a religious institutional setting, but more connection and deeper connection around me.”
The book covers Shapiro’s life in public service so far, including his run for governor and his early friendship with President Barack Obama. It begins with his story of the April 2025 incident when, after he hosted a Passover seder, an assailant set the governor’s mansion on fire. A 38-year-old man was arrested for the crime and later pleaded guilty.
Shapiro said at the event that the arson attack happened about five months after he started working on the book.
“That moment, darkness was brought upon us,” Shapiro said at the Free Library. “But the real thing that we learned from that experience … is the light that evolved, and emanated, from people from all different walks of life, all different faiths, all different backgrounds, all different parts of Pennsylvania, and this country and this world, where goodness came out, where people prayed for us.”
“I never felt the power of prayer as I did after that experience, the power of other people’s prayers to lift you up and give you strength,” the governor added.
He also addressed rising antisemitism and what “living Jewishly” means to him.
“It is no secret that antisemitism is on the rise,” Shapiro said. “By the way, we’re seeing other forms of hatred and bigotry on the rise, across our commonwealth and across our country.”
The protests outside the event (Photo credit: Stephen Silver)
He remembered, especially after Oct. 7 and later the arson attack, that people often approached him and told him how scared they were.
“I felt a responsibility to be more open about my faith, and offer comfort to others,” he said.
The event took place just hours after the killing in Minneapolis of Alex Pretti by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. About 100 protesters were outside the venue before the event, urging the governor to end all state cooperation with ICE.
Shapiro addressed the situation near the end of the event.
“What we are seeing in Minnesota is absolutely unacceptable,” Shapiro said. “We are seeing these federal agents violate people’s constitutional rights. We are seeing these federal agents create havoc and destroy the trust that exists between law enforcement and their community.”
“Here in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, we do not do ICE’s work,” he said. “We do not do the work that ICE purports to want to do to enforce immigration laws here in Pennsylvania. … We also understand that what’s happening in Minneapolis could happen here in Philadelphia, or in Pittsburgh, or in Lancaster, or in other communities across our commonwealth. And I will just tell you this: We are prepared for that.”
On the possibility that the president might try to interfere with the midterm elections, Shapiro also vowed that “I will do everything in my power to stop anyone from taking away your vote,” citing the more than 40 times he was sued, as Pennsylvania’s attorney general, by the Trump campaign in 2020, and his perfect record in those cases.
“I think what’s clear is the leadership we see coming out of Washington, D.C., is all about restricting our freedom,” the governor said. “It’s scapegoating certain people in our communities, deciding who is being othered and deciding who counts. And I think that makes us all less safe.”
“I think you’ve got to build a society where no matter what you look like or where you come from, who you love, who you pray to, who you choose not to pray to, is respected in our commonwealth and our country,” Shapiro added. “And we’ve got a president of the United States who’s doing the opposite, who’s pitting Americans against one another, who’s making it harder for certain people to get ahead.”
The book first made headlines in mid-January when multiple media outlets reported that Shapiro revealed he was asked some surprising questions during his vetting for the vice presidency in 2024, including a member of then-Vice President Kamala Harris’ team inquiring whether he had ever been an agent of the Israeli government.
A few controversial topics did not come up during the Free Library event. There was no discussion of the Kamala Harris “Israeli agent” controversy or anything involving the Middle East more broadly, aside from a few mentions of Oct. 7. The interview did not broach Shapiro’s in-progress re-election campaign or the possibility that he could run for president in 2028, although Mitchell did say that “There are a lot of people in this room, and a lot of people who are listening, who are telling you (to take your shot).”
Stephen Silver is a Broomall-based freelance writer.