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Virtual Fireside Chat with Jill Wine-Banks, author of “The Watergate Girl” and Rabbi Jason Nevarez
Wednesday, February 10, 2021 @ 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm
Free
Jill Wine-Banks takes us inside her trial by fire as a Watergate prosecutor.
It was a time, much like today, when Americans feared for the future of their democracy and women stood up for equal treatment. At the crossroads of the Watergate scandal and the women’s movement stood a young Jewish lawyer named Jill Wine Volner (as she was then known), barely thirty years old and the only woman on the team that prosecuted the highest-ranking White House officials. Called “the mini-skirted lawyer” by the press, she fought to receive the respect accorded her male counterparts―and prevailed.
In The Watergate Girl, Jill Wine-Banks takes us inside this troubled time in American history, and it is impossible to read about the crimes of Richard Nixon and the people around him without drawing parallels to today’s headlines. The book is also the story of a young Jewish woman who sought to make her professional mark while trapped in a failing marriage, buffeted by sexist preconceptions, and harboring secrets of her own. Her house was burgled, her phones were tapped, and even her office garbage was rifled through.
At once a cautionary tale and an inspiration for those who believe in the power of justice and the rule of law, The Watergate Girl is a revelation about our country, our politics, and who we are as a society.
Speaker Biographies:
Jill Wine-Banks is currently an MSNBC Legal Analyst, appearing regularly on primetime and daytime shows. She also appears on PBS, Canadian and Australian networks, Sirius XM, NPR, and other radio shows, including Stephanie Miller’s, and podcasts. A sought-after speaker, Jill appears before professional, political, women’s, and business groups, universities, and law schools. In addition, Jill has written OpEds for the NBC.com, Chicago Tribune, Washington Post, Politico, and Huffington Post. She has also been featured in several documentaries and films, including Academy Award winner Charles Ferguson’s Watergate, or How We Learned to Stop an Out of Control President, Robert Redford’s All The President’s Men Revisited, ABC 20/20, and Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 11/9.
Ms. Wine-Banks began her career as the first woman to serve as an organized crime prosecutor at the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. After just over four years, her trial capabilities and win record led to her selection as one of the three Assistant Watergate Special Prosecutors, where she was again the only woman, in the obstruction of justice trial against President Nixon’s top aides, including his Attorney General, Chief of Staff, and Chief Domestic Adviser. President Nixon was named an unindicted co-conspirator in that case. Her team delivered a briefcase of evidence to the House Judiciary Committee as a road map to impeachment. She was also a major player in the Watergate tapes hearing, cross-examining Rose Mary Woods, President Nixon’s secretary, about the 18 ½ minute gap in a key White House recording.
Originally from New York City, Rabbi Jason Nevarez graduated from the Bronx High School of Science and went to the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, where he received his BA in 1998. He was ordained by the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in New York in 2006, where he earned Master’s degrees in both Hebrew Literature and Religious Education, and was the recipient of a number of scholarships, in addition to several academic prizes in Jewish education. Rabbi Nevarez held residencies and internships at Larchmont Temple, Larchmont, NY, Temple Beth Emeth, Ann Arbor, MI, and at Temple Shaaray Tefila, Bedford NY, where he served for the past 17 years. Prior to entering Rabbinical School, he served as a Youth Director at synagogues in Connecticut and Michigan, and also as a Regional Director for NFTY (North American Federation of Temple Youth).
As part of his congregational portfolio, Rabbi Nevarez has had the opportunity to do outreach, educational, and social justice work both in Israel and Latin America. He has also been able to marry his global learning experiences with his passion for innovation and immersive learning/education across the generations he serves. He continues to help foster a congregation of learners and enjoys working closely with families in individual/family pastoral counseling. He continues to serve as a mentor for Rabbinical students at HUC-JIR, the Reform Movement’s Flagship Seminary, helping them to enhance their Rabbinic skill sets while serving as rabbinic interns for congregations. Rabbi Nevarez lives in Carmel Valley with his wife, Nicole, his partner and lifelong friend, and their two children, Ethan and Sophie.
Reading Jill’s book prior to joining the conversation will enable you as a participant to have a greater takeaway from this program. The book is available here.
This program is a partnership between Beth Israel, the Jewish Federation of Greater Santa Barbara, and the Jewish Federation of Ventura County.
There is no fee, but please RSVP for planning purposes. This event is held virtually on Zoom. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the event.